“We also have the prophetic message [Scripture] as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.”

—- 2 Peter 1:19

For Peter, the Word of God shone like a Light in a “dark” place (some translate the word dark as “squalid,” “dirty,” as well). That’s why he’s so clear that we need to take “heed” to that light, to follow it until “the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in [our] hearts.” We are fallen beings, living in a fallen and dark world. We need the supernatural power of God to lead us out of this darkness and to the Light, and that Light is Jesus.

 “For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light of knowledge shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.” 
—-2 Cor. 4:6

Peter is pointing his readers to a goal. Some believe that the expression “until the day dawns” refers to the second coming of Jesus. Though that’s certainly our ultimate hope, the idea of the “Morning Star” rising in your hearts sounds more immediate and more personal.

The “Morning Star” refers to Jesus (Rev. 2:28, Rev. 22:16). His rising in their hearts seems to be about knowing Jesus, fully taking hold of Him and experiencing the reality of the living Christ in their own individual lives. Jesus shouldn’t be just a doctrinal truth; He should be the center of our existence and source of our hope and faith. So Peter is establishing a clear link between studying the Word of God and having a saving relationship with Jesus, the “Morning Star.”

And of course, with the light shining in us, we will spread it to others. “The whole earth is to be illuminated with the glory of God’s truth. The light is to shine to all lands and all peoples. And it is from those who have received the light that it is to shine forth. The Day-Star has risen upon us, and we are to reflect His Light upon the pathway of those in darkness through our good deeds of kindness and compassion, our demonstration of His love toward the lost and our unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Whenever others can see and sense the Light of the love of Christ in us, in our words and our works, then they encounter the cosmic illumination that can make them desire the same warmth and glow of God that fills our souls today.