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WORD AMONG US WAU.ORG Reflections
Daily Meditation: Ephesians 5:8-14
Live as children of light. (Ephesians 5:8)
It’s no wonder St. Paul uses the analogy of light when he exhorts us to live in a manner worthy of our calling as disciples. Light is necessary to sustain life. It’s essential for the photosynthesis process so that plants can provide us with food and produce the oxygen that we need to breathe. Light helps to regulate our sleep cycle, our mood, and our hormones, and it strengthens our immune system. Put simply, it’s light that keeps us alive.
Paul tells us that before we were baptized into Christ, we lived in darkness, but now that we have received his Spirit, we have his light within us. We still live in a fallen world, however, and it might seem at times that we are surrounded only by darkness. But Paul is clear about who we are in Christ: We are now “light in the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8). We aren’t just recipients of his light; we are light. That means that we need to “take no part in the fruitless works of darkness” (5:11). We can reject sin and commit to loving God and our neighbor.
So Paul gives us some advice on what living as “children of light” looks like. He tells us to “learn what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8, 10). And how do we do that? By being consistent in prayer, by pondering the Scriptures, and by staying “awake” to the Spirit (5:13). When we let Jesus shed his light into our hearts, we experience greater freedom and healing from sin. As we allow his light to shine through us, we are able to guide others to him.
In the same way in which natural light is essential for our physical life, we need the spiritual light of Christ to keep our inner lives healthy. And when his light shines through us, we will produce “every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9).
“Jesus, you are my light! Help me to let your light shine through me.”
1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13
Psalm 23:1-6
John 9:1-41
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