Shadows Cannot Exist Without Light

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A Psalm of David. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23, NASB)

This past week we laid to rest one of our very faithful servants of Christ, Mrs. Margaret Cline…Her family & close friends loved her & will miss her dearly…She will also be missed by her church family at Central Baptist; we will miss her gentle smile & wonderful attitude…Death is difficult to deal with for us all, but the fact remains that death is as much a part of life as life itself!! We all have faced death at one time or another; “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die.” (Eccl. 3:1-2a)…BUT, WE MUST REMEMBER THAT, WHETHER IN LIFE OR IN DEATH, GOD IS AVAILABLE TO US ALL TO PROVIDE COMFORT!!!!!

The Bible has a lot to say about life & death, but God’s Holy Word also gives us direction on how to deal with it & gives us much comfort in our times of sorrow…In the Psalmist David’s most beautiful song & prayer, Psalm 23, he relays a picture of the Lord as the Great Shepherd, who provides for & protects His sheep, and as the Gracious Host, who protects & provides abundantly for His guests…The figure of a Shepherd depicts the Lord as guide, protector, & constant companion.
In the first part of the psalm, we hear David talking ABOUT God, & in the second part He is talking TO God; “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me;” (v. 4)…At times in our lives, death seems so big that it casts a great “shadow” over us; shadows are always bigger than reality, but we need to remember that they cannot hurt us…ALSO, REMEMBER THAT SHADOWS CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT LIGHT!! AND WHO IS THE SOURCE OF ALL LIGHT?? JESUS CHRIST IS!! IN FACT, JESUS IS LIGHT!!!!

A father & his children were driving to their mother’s funeral when a large truck passed by them, casting a very large shadow that engulfed the entire car. The father turned to his children & asked, “Would you rather have been hit by that big truck, or by its shadow?”. Of course, they answered, “The shadow”. He then said, “Your mother knew Jesus as her Savior, therefore she was only touched by the shadow of death, not by death itself”.

Our Savior is victorious over death, therefore, as Christ followers, we have that same victory .

”The day of death is better than the day of birth” (Eccl. 7:1)…As a Christian, we have eternal life after our earthly death, through Jesus Christ and His shed blood!!

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