Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Samuel 7-9; Ephesians 5:1-16
Shining the light – Ephesians 5:1-16
Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. 2 Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God.
3 Sexual immorality, and any kind of impurity or greed, shouldn’t even be mentioned among you, which is right for holy persons. 4 Obscene language, silly talk, or vulgar jokes aren’t acceptable for believers. Instead, there should be thanksgiving. 5 Because you know for sure that persons who are sexually immoral, impure, or greedy—which happens when things become gods—those persons won’t inherit the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Nobody should deceive you with stupid ideas. God’s anger comes down on those who are disobedient because of this kind of thing. 7 So you shouldn’t have anything to do with them. 8 You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so live your life as children of light. 9 Light produces fruit that consists of every sort of goodness, justice, and truth. 10 Therefore, test everything to see what’s pleasing to the Lord, 11 and don’t participate in the unfruitful actions of darkness. Instead, you should reveal the truth about them. 12 It’s embarrassing to even talk about what certain persons do in secret. 13 But everything exposed to the light is revealed by the light. 14 Everything that is revealed by the light is light. Therefore, it says, Wake up, sleeper![a] Get up from the dead,[b] and Christ will shine on you.[c]
15 So be careful to live your life wisely, not foolishly. 16 Take advantage of every opportunity because these are evil times.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
We can misunderstand why Christians are asked to behave differently. We do have these behaviors as a law, or a certain condition to be saved. Instead, it is a projection of our love for God and God’s love shining through us.
When we are committed to loving God, as God’s children, we live in ways imitating God’s love. We might start with these certain behaviors, but our ultimate goal is to love others the way God loved us. It has to start somewhere. Starting with our small acts, we get to see how God works in us, and someday somehow, we pray that God’s love will be imitated in our lives. And as we strive to live for God’s glory, we pray that someday God’s light will shine through us!
Thank you for praying for our Puerto Rico Mission team. They all safely arrived back at home! Please continue to join us in praying that our church will be part of God’s mission to share God’s light. Let that prayer start with you, today!
Prayer
Lord, let our love for you lead us to live like you. Help us to love you and others more today. Shine through me. In Christ name we pray, Amen.
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