The amount of daylight is diminishing with each passing day. This weekend the clock will fall back plunging our evening hours into darkness. You don’t realize how dark the night is until you have a black dog. All our Labrador Adi has to do is go beyond the glow of the house and she is enveloped by the darkness. The jingle of her collar and rustle of leaves are the only indicators of her location. It’s often difficult to distinguish her from the night creatures.
To prevent Adi from disappearing into the night, we purchased a “glow collar.” This nifty device has a strip of rechargeable neon green lights running through the collar. With a click of a button, our dog is illuminated and easily located at any point on our property. We got a pink glow collar for our Labmaraner Summer even though her golden coat makes her a tad bit more visible than Adi.
As wonderful as a glow collar may sound, it’s only as effective as the person using it, which would be me. I have to remember to slip it on the dogs AND push the activation button before venturing out. I must also ensure the battery is fully charged. Nothing is worse than seeing your pup streaking across the yard one moment only to disappear the next.
With the passage of time, I’m also aware that this world is growing spiritually darker with evil. In myself, that darkness will envelop me. Just like my Lab needs a glow collar to be seen or set apart in the darkness, I need a light as well. I was reminded of this as I read Romans 13: 12-13
“And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, the day is almost here. So set aside deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
Wondering what the phrase “put on the armor of light” meant, I dug into the Bible and learned
“Clothe yourself in the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
Romans 13:14
“For you were once darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:8-10
The responsibility for using the “armor of light” like the glow collar falls on me. First, I need to put it on by choosing to walk in obedience to the Word of God. (Romans 13:14). Secondly, I need to make sure I keep it fully charged by following Jesus (John 8: 12). Rather than be overwhelmed by the depth of the world’s darkness, I need to pause and make sure I’m wearing a fully charged “armor of light.”
And so I close with one simple question, “Are you shining in the darkness?”
When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
Reader Challenge: Each picture featured in this lesson includes our pups’ playmate Reena, who is not wearing her glow collar. Can you spot her in the dark? Which dog are you?
© 2019-2023, Lessons from a Lab, Beth Alisan. All Rights Reserved.
Lessons from a Lab 
Beautiful lesson! We had glow collars for our dogs when we lived in Central Oregon and would walk them in the dark with little street light illumination.
I need to keep an armor of light around me when the darkness tries to creep in.
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Thank you Tierney! These days the glow collars are a must for the first leg of our morning walk.
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Thanks for sharing this reminder to put on our “light” to shine into the darkness of our world.
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Thank you Yvonne!
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I did not notice her until you said she was in the picture. I love this analogy. All to often my glow collar needs recharging. Thank you for this timely post.
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Thank you Jennifer! Reena’s seal brown coloring makes her look like a shadow in the pictures.
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This devotional is great, Beth! When I think of armor my mind automatically goes to the pieces detailed in Ephesians. By highlighting “armor of light” in such a wonderful way, I now have an additional perspective.
I must first “clothe” myself with the armor of light, the presence of the Holy Spirit within. Without a genuine relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we’re not clothed in the armor of light. Thus the other pieces: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace, and shield of faith, will be mere costumes—imitations of the real thing.
Thanks for sharing this enlightening post.
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Wow Manette thank you for such a rich and powerful comment! I’ve never thought about imitation pieces before but you are absolutely correct. Without a genuine relationship with Christ, any armor we put on is of our own making not of Him.
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Great idea and connection to us and the Lord .Yes, the days became dark and keep on darkening.But therefore we must be the light of this darkening world as children of God…..
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Thank you!
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We have a combined church celebration here in our city called Light of the World to offer an alternative to halloween “celebrations” each year. This is a great post Beth!
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Thank you Jo! I love the alternative that is offered to the children of your city, especially in its name and the fact that it’s a combined church effort. Growing up in an agricultural community, we had harvest parties this time of year rather than celebrating Halloween.
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Armor of light. Good illustration Beth. Sometimes my batteries are charged up. Sometimes my lights even turned on. may we be found faithful in this dark world.
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Thank you, Gary! Without the help of the Holy Spirit, I know I’d forget to recharge and would walk this world with fully drained batteries. In putting this lesson together, I was reminded of the parable of the 10 virgins. With Buddy, I guess it would be easier to lose him in the snow than in the night.
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Thats true. Buddys eyes and nose stick out in the snow. We keep him on a leash as there are too many big owls and a bald eagle that has been watching him through the patio window from a nearby tree.
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love this!
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Thank you Andy B!
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🙂
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Wonderful analogy, Beth. Praise God for His Son, the Light of the world, who shines grace, forgiveness, salvation, peace, joy and more into the dark recesses of our hearts! Praise God for the light of His Word that illuminates our path through life!
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What a beautiful worship filled comment, Nancy! Thank you
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Another beautiful lesson, Beth! It is spot on and reminds us that we are the salt and light of the world. Now to remember that and show it. I pray that this lesson will motivate me to put on my “glow collar.” Those glow collars are a nifty invention for black dogs at night!!
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Thank you Pat! That remembering part is sometimes the hardest. I’m so introverted, my tendency is to withdraw from the world rather than go into it shining His light.
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How very true. Good lesson! The darkness has become so apparent during this election period when candidates so readily lie in order to elevate themselves to get elected. I pray truth will prevail.
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Thank you! My prayer as well.
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🙂 Finn shines like the moon in the dark! I never realized the benefits of a white dog. On the spiritual side, your wonderful post made me think of old-fashioned glow in the dark stuff. It only worked if it had direct contact with the light on a regular basis. That could preach. Have a great week!
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Oh that would make a great object lesson, Nora!! We definitely need direct contact with the Son on a regular basis to shine. I had to laugh at the contrast between dogs. Finn shines like the moon while Adi needs a full moon to be even semi visible.
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“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” 🌟
Thank you, Beth, for this creative and very-needed reminder!
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The perfect musical accompaniment to this post GW! It’s hard to make my hands type as they want to do the motions I was taught to this song as a little girl.
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Wonderful post!!! You put everything together beautifully for us. Thank you!
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Thank you Linda!
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What a beautiful illustrative post Beth; we certainly do need His light shining through us and in front of us. I can see Reena in two of the pictures, only by her closeness…but the third is a mystery!
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Thank you Alan! When Reena plays, she often hunkers down and “hides” from the other dogs than springs out at them. In that first picture she’s crouched on the ground in front of Summer and looks like a mound of dirt. She is much easier to spot in the other two.
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What a fantastic message today and one that I needed. Ironically as I sit my tree stand waiting on the light of day, you make me question what type of light am I to others. Am I a strong beacon of light or a flickering candle? Lord help me be a beacon of light for you in this world and let me lead others to the lighted path of righteousness.
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Perfect timing for this lesson:) Hope you enjoyed a beautiful sunrise, a parade of turkeys, and a fruitful morning.
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This is such a wonderful reminder of our responsibility to put on God’s armor of light.
Our schnauzer. Cooper, is also black. We need to get him a glow collar!
God Bless!
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Thank you David! I’m familiar with the armor of God in Ephesians which made Paul’s wording of “armor of light” in Roman’s really jump out at me. If you opt to get Cooper a glow collar go with the neon green. It shows up better than pink, orange, or blue.
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Oh, I am glad you told us about Reena. In the dark, with only her teeth showing, she looks just like a bear cub (In my overactive imagination!)
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Too funny Pastor Pete. My husband has that same overactive imagination. Several years ago we had a large, hairy, brown lab/mastiff mix named Willis who would visit our property at the most random of times. He was a big lovable guy. Late one night while my husband was working on one of our cars in the garage, he heard some heavy breathing and turned around to find a “bear” standing in the garage door staring at him. He froze in panic only to realize a few moments later that it was Willis watching him. LOL. We haven’t seen Willis in a long time but still get a chuckle out of that “bear” story.
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