Reflect The Light Of Christ (John 1:6-7)

What’s Been Blocking the Light in You?

Aaron Salvato

May 12, 2025

Transcript

What’s Been Blocking the Light in You?

John 1:6–8

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Wilderness Devotional, we meet a wild, bug-eating, camel-hair-wearing prophet from the desert—John the Baptist.
A man so outside the lines of what society called normal, you’d probably scroll past him on Instagram thinking he was some kind of conspiracy guy with dirt under his nails.

And yet… Jesus said this:

“Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”
— Matthew 11:11

Why?

Because John knew exactly who he was.
And more importantly—who he wasn’t.

“He was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
— John 1:8

He knew it wasn’t about him.
He was just there to point to the Light.
To prepare the way.

And that’s our job too.
Not to be impressive.
Not to be center stage.
But to become like the moon—shining only because we’ve caught the light of the Son.

Going Deeper

Let me ask you something.
And I don’t ask this lightly.

What’s been blocking the light in your life?

Seriously. Take a moment with that.

What’s dimmed the glow that used to shine so brightly in you?
What patterns? What priorities? What distractions have you allowed to rise up like clouds, blocking the radiance of Jesus from reflecting off of you?

Because here's the thing.
You weren’t made to shine on your own.

“He was not the light.”
— John 1:8

Neither are you. Neither am I.

We are moons in a dark world.
Cold, cratered, and lifeless without the light of the sun.
But when that light hits us—when it breaks through the atmosphere of our pride, our selfishness, our distraction—we shine.
Not with our own brilliance. But with His.

There’s something sacred about John the Baptist’s posture.

This man left behind everything.
Social status. Comfort. Predictability. Whatever career he had before—gone.

He moved to the margins.
Lived in obscurity.
Gave up normality.
Why?

Because he’d heard the call.
God had spoken.
And John decided that obeying that voice was worth more than anything else.

And look what happened.

A man with honey on his beard and wilderness in his eyes became the forerunner to the Messiah.
The one who paved the way for Jesus.
The one who pointed to Christ and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

That’s the calling for you too.

No, not to eat locusts.
But to prepare the way.

To speak the name of Jesus where it’s never been heard.
To love when it would be easier to hide.
To shine when it would be easier to coast.

And if we don’t…
If we keep chasing our own name, our own dreams, our own timeline,
We’ll miss what we were made for.
Worse, we’ll block the very light that could bring someone else home.

Because when you’re only focused on yourself, people don’t see Jesus.
They just see you.

But when you let the light in—
When you humble yourself and lay your life before Him like a mirror angled just right—
That’s when others start to see the Light too.