Full Moon Living- Reflecting the Light of God

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:5

My commute to the office begins before sunrise so I’m often afforded a clear view of the moon.  I enjoy watching the changes as it goes through its phases. A few weeks ago it was so bright that I thought a porch light had been left on by accident. Today, it is in a waning phase—only a sliver of it is visible.

The moon itself has no light; it simply reflects the light of the sun, yet the amount of illumination from a full moon phase can light up even the darkest night. In that phase, its whole face is towards the sun so it reflects the fullness of the light back to earth. Contrarily, in a new moon phase it reflects no light on earth’s darkness because its face is turned completely away from the sun.

Our lives are much like the moon. We can bring no light to the world around us unless we have our face turned toward God. A life in sin reflects only the darkness within us. When we repent, we turn away from the darkness and towards the Light of the world. With this turn, we shine the light of God brightly for all to see the way. 

Unlike the moon, which is trapped by forces in a cyclical rotation around the earth, we are able to change our position. Each moment we have the freedom to choose where we will face and, in turn, just how much light we reflect to those around us.

New Moon

When our backs are turned completely towards God and instead we face the world only the darkness of our sin shows. This is how we remain until we have repented of sin.

Half Moon

In this position, we only partially reflect the light of God. We may have given our heart to Him but we aren't living fully committed to the Light. Much of the time we still reflect our own darkness.

Full Moon

This is the position God desires for us. Here we live fully as a Christ-follower, completely surrendered, deeply passionate and in perfect communication with the Light.

Living in a fallen world, it is easy for our position to change even without obvious intention. There is a sure way to know what moon phase we are in--simply consider what we give our time and attention to. Where is our focus? It is only in full moon living that we turn to God first and, in that turning see all things compared to Him.  

Message for the Journey:

Unlike the moon, you determine how much light you reflect around you. If you are out of perfect alignment, make an adjustment. Turn your face fully towards the Son so that you can shine the light of God into the world's darkness.  

Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light. -  Luke 11:35-36