"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:"
Ephesians 5:8
I really like this. I have felt that "sometimes darkness" in my life before, and I love the idea of walking as children of light (and also walking in love as it talks about in verse 2). There are also hints in this chapter about what things to avoid, but I also like the idea of figuring it out based on how it feels in a light/dark way... going with the spirit. There are a lot of things in life that make us feel confused and dark and uncomfortable or trapped, and other things that feel good and right and that make us happy because we are making other people happy, and I think as we talk to God about the choices that we make in life and practice more and more, we get the hang of the feeling... what feels wrong and right.
Of course practicing does zero good if we blow off the spirit and deaden those feelings by trying to "overcome" that feeling. For instance, I had a friend at an old job tell me a story about going to Europe and experiencing a nude beach, because that was the norm where he went. He wasn't comfortable with it, and felt embarrassed... but apparently he thought he was embarrassed for the wrong reasons, because at the end of the story, after going to the beach every day for a few weeks, he eventually was able to take off his swimsuit and go nude like everyone else, and the whole beach clapped. ... That is definitely a story about overcoming something, but more a story showing how the great and spacious building can influence us rather than how God influences us.
Today, let's let go of our sometimes darkness, and walk as children of light. As we do, let's remember to check our compass settings with the Lord and not to "call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20), but to truly be "light in the Lord."
Ephesians 5:8
I really like this. I have felt that "sometimes darkness" in my life before, and I love the idea of walking as children of light (and also walking in love as it talks about in verse 2). There are also hints in this chapter about what things to avoid, but I also like the idea of figuring it out based on how it feels in a light/dark way... going with the spirit. There are a lot of things in life that make us feel confused and dark and uncomfortable or trapped, and other things that feel good and right and that make us happy because we are making other people happy, and I think as we talk to God about the choices that we make in life and practice more and more, we get the hang of the feeling... what feels wrong and right.
Of course practicing does zero good if we blow off the spirit and deaden those feelings by trying to "overcome" that feeling. For instance, I had a friend at an old job tell me a story about going to Europe and experiencing a nude beach, because that was the norm where he went. He wasn't comfortable with it, and felt embarrassed... but apparently he thought he was embarrassed for the wrong reasons, because at the end of the story, after going to the beach every day for a few weeks, he eventually was able to take off his swimsuit and go nude like everyone else, and the whole beach clapped. ... That is definitely a story about overcoming something, but more a story showing how the great and spacious building can influence us rather than how God influences us.
Today, let's let go of our sometimes darkness, and walk as children of light. As we do, let's remember to check our compass settings with the Lord and not to "call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20), but to truly be "light in the Lord."
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