The roach verses the moth

Have you ever seen a roach? Not a picture of one but a real roach. Have you ever seen them scatter when the lights come on? We have a screened-in porch on the back of our home. From time to time I will need to step out on the porch to grab a shirt that we left out to dry or grab a pair of shoes my kids left outside when they were playing, etc. If I happen to go step out onto the porch when it is dark and turn on the lights I will see the occasional roach scatter. He will run under a table or slide between the slats in the floor or maybe even slip under the screen door and head down the steps to our back yard.  The roaches do not like the light. On the other hand if I happen to turn the light on to find whatever I was looking for and walk back inside without turning it off I can go outside and see several moths stuck to my screen trying to figure out how to get to the light. They are looking for any crack in my porch they can find that will let them get to the light.

As I was reading the other day I came across a passage that made me think about this.

John 3: 16-21 - 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

The beginning of this passage is probably the most well known passage in the Bible. If people only have one verse memorized it is probably John 3:16. However, John 3:16 is only the beginning of the paragraph. The end of the paragraph, verses 19 - 21 are just as important but are rarely quoted. These are what I call the cockroach and moth verses. Verses 19 and 20 describe spiritual cockroaches and verse 21 describes spiritual moths.

Over and over we read about the power of the word of God. We see that it can both encourage and convict:

Psalm 119: 105 -Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Hebrews 4: 12 -For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

I Thessalonians 2: 13- And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

II Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."

The word of God is powerful and can transform our lives, it can transform our families, our homes, our churches, our communities, our nation and our world. In order for it to transform any of these we have to spend time in the word. We have to ask God to help us desire his word. We have to ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand the word. These are not merely man's thoughts about God, the word of God is a spiritual, living, powerful document.

I Corinthians 1: 17 - For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

I Corinthians 2: 13 - This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

A simple and maybe even humorous prayer could be "Lord, help me become more like a spiritual moth and less like a spiritual roach. Help me to be drawn to your word on a daily basis."