Light and dark

In the summer of 1997 I went to Branson, MO, for a summer project with Campus Crusade for Christ.  I basically lived in Branson for the summer working at the McDonald's Express in the main drag.  Every Saturday we would go on adventures.  On the third Saturday of the project we went to Cave Mountain Cave in Arkansas.  The cave was pretty cool.  It was used in the late 1800s and early 1900s as a gathering place of sorts.  There was a large cavern that was used to hold parties and dances.  Off to one side there was a another carven that was smaller that you had to crawl through a three foot tall by thee foot wide tunnel.  They called it the mud room because the floor was mad of red mud. 
Most of the other from the project went to crawl through the "Jet Stream", which is a tunnel only a foot tall and runs about 70 feet.  I decided, along with two of my roommates, that I was too big to go through it.  So I got to do some cave exploring.  Between the half dozen of us who did not go through the "Jet Stream", there was three flash lights so we had to stick together. When it was time to go we headed for the entrance.  I'm glad I was with a group because I lost my bearings in the dark.  When we got close to the entrance of the cave I was so glad to see the light. 
On the way back to Branson, and for the next few days for that matter, I reflected on my experience in the cave.  I thought about the darkness that surrounded me.  I thought about what it did to me mentally and physically.  And you know what, darkness can be a powerful influence in your life.  On one point in the excursion, all the flashlights were turned off.  The darkness just consumed us.  Concepts like up and down were gone and I felt like I was going to loose my balance.  The dark was depressing and oppressing.  It felt like there was a heavy weight on my shoulders and my mind.  I felt alone.  I felt lost.  It was an interesting experience to say the least.  When it was time to leave the cave and saw the light, I was so happy to get out of the darkness.  You could almost say that I was filled with joy to enter the light out of darkness.  Going from the cold of the dark into the warm light.
It kind of sounds like being saved doesn't it?  Going from the dark of this world to the light of Jesus.  He said in John 12:46 "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness."  The thing about the world is that most people don't know they are walking in the darkness.  When I was in the cave, I knew I was in the darkness because I knew what it was to walk in the light.  "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it"(John 1:5).  When someone spends their whole life living in the dark, they don't know the difference.  The are lost. When they come out of the dark into the light a great realization comes over them.  The realization of how depressing and heavy the dark is and how uplifting and joyous the light is.
Here's the thing, how and where do those who walk in the dark see the light?  Who will be the light at the end of the tunnel for them? Jesus said "You are the light of the world."(Matt 5:14a)  We are the light that the world will look to.  We are the reflections of the light of Jesus to the darkness in the world. Jesus has sent us to show the lost the way.  So, go light the world that they may no longer walk in the darkness.
...and that's what's up.