Ephesians 5:8-14
Are you walking in the light or in the darkness?
From New International Version
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.
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
From The Message
Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk, but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that. You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true–these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.
Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.
“Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!”
The Reflection on Walking in the Light
What is the difference between walking in the light and walking in darkness?
I accepted an assignment from my church (First United Methodist Church Seattle) to write a Lenten devotional. When I first saw my assignment, I wanted to back out. This seemed to go to dark places where I didn’t want to go and especially didn’t want to take others. It’s sometimes difficult when scripture pushes you to self-reflection!
This passage covers two ideas. The first is what we do when we think no one is looking. My late boss taught me to choose my behavior based on how it would look in the light of day. In other words, how would I feel if my spouse or my children knew of my behavior? How about my friends? How about my fellow humans at First Church? Once I started putting my behavior to that test, I started making different decisions about what to do. In other words, I began to choose walking in the light.
The second idea concerns what we do that has no value, such as getting sucked into the darkness of social media or reveling in the darkness of negative politics. Author Eugene Peterson, in The Message , says, “Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are.”
(I hope this admonition doesn’t preclude watching train videos or animal videos on YouTube. Is there some sort of timer that says, “You’ve watched enough. You’re starting to head into the barren pursuits of darkness.”?)
Recall the words of the hymn, “I want to walk as a child of the light. I want to follow Jesus.”
Peterson goes on to say, “It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see.”
Prayer
Creator of all that is, thank you for the ability to choose the light and reject the darkness. Thank you for the possibility to touch others in a light-filled, positive way and to ensure our work is useful and pleasing to you.