Crawl out of your dark, dank, musty cave of sin, and let the Sun of righteousness disinfect you, warm your soul, clean your mind, mature your conduct. The cure isn’t behavior modification, it’s the fruit of a relationship with the Light of the World that drives out the darkness.

When I was a young boy, tests revealed that I was allergic to bee stings. I was very allergic and had to carry medication with me at all times to prevent anaphylactic shock if stung. A few years ago my doctor informed me that what I really ought to do is to carry an EpiPen with me, so that I could inject myself with adrenalin if stung. Its needle looked ominous. I asked if the needle was necessary. The doctor said, “Well no, you can take the needle out if you like.” I was elated. “But,” he wryly continued, “the EpiPen won’t work without it.” Of course, the only way for the medication to be effective was for it to be administered via, what I assumed would be, a painful procedure.

Last week we saw that people choose spiritual darkness over light because they love to cling to their sins. Their allergy is caused by their love of darkness. Much like I would have preferred the cure to be administered without pain, many folks want the gospel, but without the needle prick of repentance. But much like an EpiPen, the cure is only effective if administered with the pain of turning from your sin in repentance.

What does that look like? Let’s get practical with seven steps you can take to help expose your sin and to help you to walk closer to Jesus.

Let’s consider 7 habits of people who love the light:

1. They don’t hide their sin under a respectable label but call it what it is. Don’t call it perfectionism when it is pride, or OCD when it is a lack of self-control, or the disease of alcoholism when it is the sin of drunkenness. Identify the sin and then repent of it.

1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

2. They don’t hide their behavior and heart’s desires under the cover of anonymity. Fake Facebook accounts, anonymous e-mail addresses and Twitter handles, avatars and nicknames, all enable you to hide behind your screen and say and do things that you would not do in public. So, don’t use anonymity as camouflage for your wicked deeds.

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