Jan52025
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Guiding lights Can Only Work in the Dark.

I went fly-fishing with my friend in his boat. When it got dark, he asked me to take the wheel and return to the harbor. I asked him where the harbor was. He told me to follow the blinking red light in the far distance. After we tied up the boat, I jumped out on the dock and started looking over the water for the blinking red light that guided me in.  I asked my friend, “The blinking red light: Where did it go.” He answered that it was the flashing “Open” sign across the street. He continued, “One night they closed early for the holiday, and I had a real hard time finding the harbor.” I always wondered if the package store owner knew how many boats he guided into the harbor with his blinking open sign. Light in the darkness always guides.

Titus was a close friend of Paul who was sent to be the pastor in some churches in Crete. Crete is an Island south of Greece. And the native pagans welcomed the church there. They liked the stories of Jesus, and they liked getting together to share in the Eucharist. They appreciated the idea that suffering has meaning–and who cannot like having access to eternal life? The problem with the Cretans was they could not depart from their old pagan lifestyle. You know how it is. On Sunday, we have our lives in order and figured out, but by Monday, the wheels fall off.

So Paul sent Titus a letter to help him with this situation. He told him to show them Christ. They heard stories about Him, but they needed to see Him. He asked Titus to be the light in the pagan darkness.

We know the world is often in darkness, but that is good for us. We can be like Christ and be that guiding light. We may never know how many boats we lead into the harbor. 

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