August 17, 2023 | Be On Mission
Live as Children of Light
Scripture: Ephesians 5(NIV)
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Devotional
Recall how misguided the Ephesian culture was. The average resident of Ephesus trusted in Greco-Roman politicians, philosophers, merchants, artists, athletes, pagans and sorcerers to guide them through the day. Those who came to Christ found themselves experiencing some growing pains. They desired to live as God’s holy people, but were surrounded by a corrupt culture.
Amid all the practical advice, Paul challenged the Ephesian Christians, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (v. 15-17). This is harder than it sounds. Being wise, choosing good, and discerning God’s will is difficult, especially when the world around us is shouting a different message.
Paul then shifts to advice regarding their human relationships. Here in chapter 5 he talks about the relationship between married people. Before jumping into the words to wives and husbands, we must ponder verse 21, which says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Every healthy Christian marriage involves mutual submission. Christ set the example for us when “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8). Jesus submitted to His Heavenly Father. We submit to Christ and to one another.
In Roman culture of that day, women had little to no power. They were under the authority of their husbands their whole lives. They had no choice. But here Paul compared the voluntary submission of a wife to that of the church to Christ. Paul did the same for his call for husbands to sacrificially love their wives, comparing it to the way Christ died for us on the cross. Both wives and husband were being challenged to put the other one first in their marriage relationship.
Whether living in culture or in a marriage or in the church, Paul reminds us, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (v. 8). How is the Lord leading you to enter the light, where everything becomes visible and is illuminated?
Poem
The Flashlight
Ephesians 5: 8 "...for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light..."
Chorus:
Jesus, the Lamp unto my feet
Keep me, your lamb, on pathway sweet
O, shine your light upon my way
And never let me ever stray
One evening, camping with my child
Out in the dark, out in the wild
I heard the cry, “I have to go…
But to the bathroom, I don’t know
Will you go with me, keep me safe?
I must admit, I am afraid”
And so we headed in the night
Each step well lit by small flashlight
I kept the beam right on our feet
In case a stumbling block we meet
Thus with each step my child grew bolder
“I want to be the flashlight holder!”
Instead of light shone on our feet
She shone it into darkness deep
So far ahead, the light was swallowed
We soon began to trip in hollows
“The light, a pathway for each step,
Don’t shine it in the future’s depth!”
Lord, show the places I might stumble
Don’t let my way cause me to tumble
One step, one step and then the next
Your “present tense” help me respect
Your future is not for my sight
You have control; You hold the light
