Applying light to darkness
This week's study is on Ephesians 5:8-13:
I like these verses. They discuss not just truth and righteousness, but the very character of God and essence of sin. Sections of the Bible like this are high value passages, full of nutrition packed into a small amount of space.
The fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Goodness is expressing love in kindness. If you think of what a good person is, or a good deed, that's some evidence of goodness. Righteousness is doing the right thing. God has a plan for us, and if we do it, we're righteous. Truth is not having to spin things or lie about them or cover them up.
One of the most heartbreaking things is seeing someone who won't see or tell the truth. The devil is the father of lies, and lies are his native language. So someone who believes or spreads lies about themselves, or about others, or about the world around them, or about God, is living in the devil's world. They make decisions based on lies, not on truth. They're reacting to things that aren't there, like shooting at noises in the dark. Sometimes you wound family and friends that way. Other times you miss the mark. Occasionally you get lucky, but for the most part it's a recipe for disaster.
Watching someone willingly live without truth is like watching a little kid pick up a loaded gun inside of a soundproof room. You're screaming "No! Don't do it! Put it down!" and they go and do it anyway, oblivious to the fact that you're even there. You have to watch it all happen. I wonder if that's what it's like for God to see us make the stupid decisions we make. Watching someone destroy their life probably hurts worse than the nails of the cross sometimes. Our love is nothing compared to God's love.
Seeing someone live without righteousness is more infuriating than sad. People mess their lives and others' lives up that way too. If God calls you to fund missionaries to China, for instance, and you spend it on alcohol, you're destroying your liver and depriving souls of their chance to hear God's good news. If you take poor care of your body, and you die young of a heart attack, you hurt everyone who loves you. You knew better, but did the wrong thing anyway.
Sometimes it's just ignorance that leads us away from righteousness. We simply don't know what the right thing is to do. We're following a GPS that doesn't know where it is or where it is going. Best case we burn a lot of gas and time. Worst case, lives are destroyed and nothing is left but a smoking wreckage. There are a lot of "if only's" here. "If only I'd paid more attention." "If only I'd asked for help first." "If only I'd quit smoking earlier." "If only I'd asked for forgiveness." We could go on.
If you lack goodness, you lack love. You may even be mean-spirited, or lacking in compassion. Bullies lack goodness. They delight in toying with others, inflicting pain for their own amusement. They steal valuable things. They refuse to help people in need. They're impatient and intolerant of the faults in others. They refuse to forgive. They lash out in anger over slights, real or imagined. They're basically Satan's ambassadors, demonstrating the value system of hell and bringing a little of it with them everywhere they go.
We used to be darkness. That is, we used to lack goodness, righteousness and truth. We used to be those deceived, infuriating, mean-spirited people that caused God so much grief and heartache. We don't start with a clean slate. It's shameful to even mention some of the things we've done. But we're light now. God has changed us.
We're to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness now. We can't continue to live the way we used to live, abusing each other, believing lies, taking the wrong path because it's easier, etc. We're not the devil's children, like we talked about last week, but children of light. Children of light have goodness, righteousness, and truth.
We're supposed to expose darkness to light. Most people focus in on the truth aspect of it. Take things that are done in secret and tell the truth about them. That's part of it, but what about the righteousness and goodness? Any scientist can tell the truth, but are they doing God's work by doing so? A gossip tells the truth more often than not, and they're condemned.
When someone who is living in darkness is around someone who is living in the light, they can't help but notice the difference. They say the human eye can spot a candle a mile away. Spiritually, we're probably equally as sensitive. If you're telling the truth, doing the right thing, and being good to people, you stand out. You're demonstrating the kingdom of heaven, and bringing a little of it with you wherever you go.
People naturally compare themselves to others. If someone is believing lies, hearing the truth from people and seeing it demonstrated may help them to change and come into the light. If someone is making the wrong decisions for their life, seeing someone who has chosen the right decisions in those circumstances may help them to come into the light. If someone is meanspirited and selfish, seeing someone who is full of goodness may bring them into the light.
The deeds of darkness are fruitless. Lies won't lead you to the truth. Unrighteousness won't cause you to prosper eternally. Meanness won't foster love and closeness. The deeds of darkness are broken and empty, damaged and twisted. They isolate us from God and from each other, and ultimately lead us to hell.
Things exposed to light become visible. Without light, how will you know if you're believing a lie? How will you know your life is headed in the wrong direction? How will you know what a horrible person you are to others? Light removes darkness so that we can see and quit stumbling around.
So how do we apply light to darkness the way that Paul describes it?
1. Admit that you're probably surrounded by at least some darkness.
2. Allow the light to come close and reveal your surroundings.
3. Be OK with the fact that others can see you now.
4. Avoid nasty obstacles and sharp pointy things.
5. Allow the light to come so close that it begins to shine out of you.
6. Don't forget that you started in darkness.
7. Repeat as needed (sorry, I'm a programmer.)
Something that is illuminated becomes a light. How do we get illuminated? Allow the light to enter us instead of just shining on us. Accept God. Allow his Holy Spirit to influence your values and choices. You're not just aware of your faults at that point. You're part of the solution.
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.
I like these verses. They discuss not just truth and righteousness, but the very character of God and essence of sin. Sections of the Bible like this are high value passages, full of nutrition packed into a small amount of space.
The fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Goodness is expressing love in kindness. If you think of what a good person is, or a good deed, that's some evidence of goodness. Righteousness is doing the right thing. God has a plan for us, and if we do it, we're righteous. Truth is not having to spin things or lie about them or cover them up.
One of the most heartbreaking things is seeing someone who won't see or tell the truth. The devil is the father of lies, and lies are his native language. So someone who believes or spreads lies about themselves, or about others, or about the world around them, or about God, is living in the devil's world. They make decisions based on lies, not on truth. They're reacting to things that aren't there, like shooting at noises in the dark. Sometimes you wound family and friends that way. Other times you miss the mark. Occasionally you get lucky, but for the most part it's a recipe for disaster.
Watching someone willingly live without truth is like watching a little kid pick up a loaded gun inside of a soundproof room. You're screaming "No! Don't do it! Put it down!" and they go and do it anyway, oblivious to the fact that you're even there. You have to watch it all happen. I wonder if that's what it's like for God to see us make the stupid decisions we make. Watching someone destroy their life probably hurts worse than the nails of the cross sometimes. Our love is nothing compared to God's love.
Seeing someone live without righteousness is more infuriating than sad. People mess their lives and others' lives up that way too. If God calls you to fund missionaries to China, for instance, and you spend it on alcohol, you're destroying your liver and depriving souls of their chance to hear God's good news. If you take poor care of your body, and you die young of a heart attack, you hurt everyone who loves you. You knew better, but did the wrong thing anyway.
Sometimes it's just ignorance that leads us away from righteousness. We simply don't know what the right thing is to do. We're following a GPS that doesn't know where it is or where it is going. Best case we burn a lot of gas and time. Worst case, lives are destroyed and nothing is left but a smoking wreckage. There are a lot of "if only's" here. "If only I'd paid more attention." "If only I'd asked for help first." "If only I'd quit smoking earlier." "If only I'd asked for forgiveness." We could go on.
If you lack goodness, you lack love. You may even be mean-spirited, or lacking in compassion. Bullies lack goodness. They delight in toying with others, inflicting pain for their own amusement. They steal valuable things. They refuse to help people in need. They're impatient and intolerant of the faults in others. They refuse to forgive. They lash out in anger over slights, real or imagined. They're basically Satan's ambassadors, demonstrating the value system of hell and bringing a little of it with them everywhere they go.
We used to be darkness. That is, we used to lack goodness, righteousness and truth. We used to be those deceived, infuriating, mean-spirited people that caused God so much grief and heartache. We don't start with a clean slate. It's shameful to even mention some of the things we've done. But we're light now. God has changed us.
We're to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness now. We can't continue to live the way we used to live, abusing each other, believing lies, taking the wrong path because it's easier, etc. We're not the devil's children, like we talked about last week, but children of light. Children of light have goodness, righteousness, and truth.
We're supposed to expose darkness to light. Most people focus in on the truth aspect of it. Take things that are done in secret and tell the truth about them. That's part of it, but what about the righteousness and goodness? Any scientist can tell the truth, but are they doing God's work by doing so? A gossip tells the truth more often than not, and they're condemned.
When someone who is living in darkness is around someone who is living in the light, they can't help but notice the difference. They say the human eye can spot a candle a mile away. Spiritually, we're probably equally as sensitive. If you're telling the truth, doing the right thing, and being good to people, you stand out. You're demonstrating the kingdom of heaven, and bringing a little of it with you wherever you go.
People naturally compare themselves to others. If someone is believing lies, hearing the truth from people and seeing it demonstrated may help them to change and come into the light. If someone is making the wrong decisions for their life, seeing someone who has chosen the right decisions in those circumstances may help them to come into the light. If someone is meanspirited and selfish, seeing someone who is full of goodness may bring them into the light.
The deeds of darkness are fruitless. Lies won't lead you to the truth. Unrighteousness won't cause you to prosper eternally. Meanness won't foster love and closeness. The deeds of darkness are broken and empty, damaged and twisted. They isolate us from God and from each other, and ultimately lead us to hell.
Things exposed to light become visible. Without light, how will you know if you're believing a lie? How will you know your life is headed in the wrong direction? How will you know what a horrible person you are to others? Light removes darkness so that we can see and quit stumbling around.
So how do we apply light to darkness the way that Paul describes it?
1. Admit that you're probably surrounded by at least some darkness.
2. Allow the light to come close and reveal your surroundings.
3. Be OK with the fact that others can see you now.
4. Avoid nasty obstacles and sharp pointy things.
5. Allow the light to come so close that it begins to shine out of you.
6. Don't forget that you started in darkness.
7. Repeat as needed (sorry, I'm a programmer.)
Something that is illuminated becomes a light. How do we get illuminated? Allow the light to enter us instead of just shining on us. Accept God. Allow his Holy Spirit to influence your values and choices. You're not just aware of your faults at that point. You're part of the solution.
Comments
Post a Comment