Let There Be Light!

Genesis 1:3, 4 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good...

That phrase really jumped out at me and I realized that we can so easily skim over it as we've heard it so many times. We can miss how really profound it is. God did not create anything simply for the sake of doing "something." Everything He does has a purpose and function and light is no exception.

Light is critical to every aspect of a truly vibrant, healthy life of wholeness. Light as it relates to your soul (your mind, will and emotions) can mean revealing, bringing to light thoughts, attitudes, beliefs or feelings we may need to change. When people are deprived of light, depression sets in. So many people struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) during the darker winter months.

Spiritually, light means revelation, an opening of the understanding or "spiritual eyes" to truth. To be able to see things with more than simply your physical eyes since this material, physical life is but a very small part of our total life as God created it.

Without light physically we cannot live. God chose this planet earth because it is exactly the right distance from the sun. Without sunlight we simply could not exist. Sunlight produces chlorophyll in plant life, which absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen into the atmosphere - without which we die!

Sunlight produces Vitamin D in our skin, which is being furiously researched right now. All these years of sunscreen use has caused severe Vitamin D deficiencies in most of us which is believed to be a link to the increased incidence of major diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Light is energy. We know some homes are actually heated and run on solar power. We can also experience physical healing when exposed to different types of light - for instance infrared, UV and red light. Different colors in the light spectrum have healing effects. You usually only get to see the full color spectrum in light when you experience a rainbow - another of God's amazing gifts to us.

For now, take time to really appreciate this gift of light and consider all its benefits. You can't help but praise God. A simple thing like having light each day is so easy to take for granted. But let's not.