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I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. ~ John 8:12 (NLT)

I had an incident which happened to me a while back that was both painful and a bit embarrassing. Back then I lived only a hundred yards or so from the church where I pastored, so I often times ventured over to the building to do miscellaneous things. Often times this involved going over to open or close all of the windows (there’s a lot of them) to either help the church building cool off or keep the warmness in. One evening, a thunderstorm was coming through the area and I knew that the windows at the church were open. So, I decided to go over and get them closed up, lest the wind blow things around inside the church or slam windows shut (We already had one break due to a previous windstorm). Though it was dark outside, I had walked this path many times, so I didn’t grab a flashlight. I headed out into the dark, trotting towards the church. At about the halfway point, things went very wrong. My toe tripped on something unseen and caused my body to fall at a rapid pace toward the ground. In fact, I fell so fast, I wasn’t able to get my hands out to brace myself. I ended up doing a header into the gravel road I was trotting down – skinning up my knee, wrist, and face in the process. So, there I lay bleeding and in a lot of pain. Luckily the wounds healed and nothing was broken. But, next time I venture out into the darkness, I’m taking a light with me.

When it comes to living this life in this dark world, we have two choices. We can stumble around in the darkness, or we can actually allow the light of Jesus to shine into it, lighting our path as we go. As Jesus stated in our verse today, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

So, you have a choice to make. You can choose to navigate this life without Jesus, and you will stumble and fall. You will get hurt and you will never find your way to eternal life. Or you can walk in the light of a relationship with Jesus. Walking side-by-side He will point out the trip hazards. He will light up the path in front of you. He will help to minimize the self-inflicted pain we experience. He will lead us to our eternal home with Him.

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." ~ John 14:6 (NLT)

When I was a freshman in college, long before the advent of the Internet, smart phones, and GPS, my girlfriend and I decided to take a road trip into San Francisco to see the sights and maybe do some shopping. Right before we left, my girlfriend told me she needed to stop by the bank to grab some cash for our trip. I asked which bank and she rattled off a name that I wasn’t familiar with. I asked if she knew where this bank was located in the greater San Francisco metro area. Her response? “Not really, but how hard can it be to find it?” Let me tell you. We spent what seemed like hours looking for this bank. It was nowhere to be found. I was getting really angry; she was getting majorly defensive. Let’s just say that the words we were using towards each other were neither loving nor encouraging. We were so upset with each other that neither one of us wanted to spend any more time together. So, I turned the car around and drove back to the college and dropped her off at her dorm. The trip was off.

Far too often, our spiritual life can feel like that trip. Now, I’m not talking about a trip to see the sights and get some city swag. Instead, I’m talking about our Christian journey. Notice that I call it a journey, because that’s exactly what it’s supposed to be. Though we may know the ultimate destination (Heaven), we have no idea how to get there.

The only being in the universe who actually knows every twist, every turn, every hill, and every valley that we must take to join Him in heavenly splendor is Jesus. But, here’s the deal. He wants to journey with us. He doesn’t want to just give us a roadmap and say “good luck.” He wants to be with us as we see the sights. He wants to help re-direct us when we take a wrong turn. He wants to point out the wonders of His creation along the way. He wants to build a solid, intimate relationship with us which is built over time and experiences.

This is why He gave us our verse today, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” In other words, unless He is along for the ride, we have no shot at getting to our final destination in Heaven. Only with Jesus joining us on the journey can we experience the perfection which awaits.