April 7, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, 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.” (Ephesians 5.10-13)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Jesus taught that we are to be a light to the world. Jesus said that He was the light of the world. That means we not only reflect the light of God’s love which has been glorified in Christ but we burn bright with it ourselves thus glorifying God. One way of imagining the power of this glory will happen tomorrow across a swath of the United States as there will be a total solar eclipse. They are not uncommon considering the rotation of the moon around the earth and the earth around the sun. Neither the moon nor the earth generate light on their own but reflect it. But, they can inhibit the light of the sun getting to one or the other for short periods of time as they move between one or the other and the sun. Consider this, too, that when the sun shines it does not shine on the totality of the earth or the moon all at one time. Only the surfaces which are facing the sun are exposed to its light in the march of day and night around the earth. But the dark side of the moon is only dark to us because its “face” is always looking down on us. However, that would mean that the far side of the moon will be exposed to the sun and thus it, too, has a night and day but far different than our own.

Now consider that sin and death also are agents of eclipsing the light of life which are in us. In the words of John the Beloved, following the prophetic utterance of Isaiah the prophet, “in the midst of the darkness there shone a great light which the darkness can never overcome.” That darkness is a metaphor for the lack of wisdom and knowledge of God. Such wisdom and knowledge would love to convince all life and living that there is no real death and ultimately no real God. Of course, Satan knows better and so, too, the demonized angels who followed him to his earthly exile. Whenever temptation comes into our heart and mind, its hope is to eclipse the truth of who we truly are: beings of light and love. We are earthly temples in which the Spirit of God exists. Where the Spirit is so there is the light of God’s goodness, mercy and grace. Such goodness, mercy and grace are the fuel by which faith, hope and love abide and abound. Even those who do not believe in God but commit acts of compassion and goodwill give off such light of hope as others certainly experience it. However, the issue arises that they take credit for bringing to light the goodness and welfare for themselves and others. They deny the true generator of such goodness, mercy and grace is beyond themselves. They do not reflect upon the Creator who is Yahweh Elohim nor do they acknowledge that they are merely reflecting the light of God’s glory which is authentic love. In essence, they are attempting to eclipse God, Jesus and the gospel. How important it is to see the value of the Church, as the collective of the people of God who do acknowledge the truth of the light which is within them and set ablaze once again by our confession of sin and our profession of faith.

How important is it to be this “light of the world”? Paul iterates the truth when he urged the Ephesians to not speak of the deeds which the disobedient do “in secret,” as if it is a secret. Instead, he teaches them that they should be the light of truth and thus create the contrast between light and dark. Creating the contrast brings to light which is done in the dark. The dark hates the light and runs away. For a moment, the darkness will believe it is powerful enough to withstand the light and survive the judgment of it. Even Satan hates the light because it reminds him of who he once was in Heaven. He, too, was a “bright and morning star” who lead the heavens in declaring the glory of God. Yet, he forsook the light to be his own light and to gain others to reflect his glory. However, forsaking the light of truth only exposed the darkness of his heart, soul and mind. The light was no longer in him that illumines the heavens and the earth and exposes all truth. There is no place where the light of God will not be visible at any time. I am speaking of not rotating in and out of the light as so many people believe they can do and call themselves the people of God. I am speaking of the “endless day” where te light of God’s goodness, mercy and grace is shining producing as in Christ faith, hope and love. We are called, mighty ones of God, to dwell in such light all the days and all the day of our lives. We are promised that the day will come when we will dwell in the “endless day” and behold the glory of God without fear of death, dying or blindness. Oh what a glorious day that will be. Until then, let the word of God speak for itself as we continue to seek better how to continually be the light of the world Jesus calls us to be and died so that we might be it.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit spoke us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.