You Are Light in the Lord – March 16, 2020

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.
Ephesians 5:8-10

You Are Light in the Lord

To be “in the dark” means that you are unaware of the truth about something. And if someone “sheds some light” on the subject, that means they helped you to understand what you didn’t know before.

But for the Christians in the city of Ephesus, the apostle Paul extended the metaphor to the extreme. Paul told those believers that in their past not only were they in the dark about God and his will for their lives, but they were the darkness! They had so deeply swallowed the lies of godlessness and the empty temptations of this world that they became a corrupting influence in the lives of others as well.

All of us were born in the same darkness of sin and unbelief. None of us came into this world knowing the truth about God’s love for us. And our sinful human nature actively works to try to keep us in that spiritual darkness. When we follow those self-destructive patterns in our lives, we can cause others around us to stumble too.

But the light of Christ shines brightly to scatter the darkness. Jesus Christ came to reveal the truth about God, about ourselves, and about how we have been made right with God through the sacrifice of his Son. The Holy Spirit enlightens our hearts through this good news and leads us to rejoice in what it means for us.

Just as those in the dark are darkness to others, so those in the light of Christ also become a source of light. Christians have learned what kind of living pleases God: a life full of love and compassion for others, a life that seeks to serve God and our neighbor, a life that revolves around the truth of our Savior, Jesus. When we walk according to the light of the Bible, our actions and attitudes serve as beacons for others, calling them to know the will of God for their lives and how true spiritual light is found in Jesus.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, shine in my heart with your love that I may reflect it always. Amen.