In Ephesians 5:8, “Light” is described as “all that is
good and right and true.” Indeed, if there are
things that are good, then there must also be
things that are bad. If there are things that are
right, then there must also be things that are
wrong. If there is truth in the world, then there
must also be falseness.
Each day we are told that we cannot define good,
right, or truth. But Jesus tells us, “I bear witness to
the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to
my voice.” If we are to walk as children of light,
we must agree that there is light. And as God’s
word states, light is “all that is good, and right,
and true.” If we can’t agree on the good, right,
and true, then we can’t take another step in this
walk. Because the next step is treacherous without truth.
You won’t know what is dark if you don’t know
the truth. Ephesians 5:11 command us, “Take no
part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” You might not even realize
how dark it is without the light. “When anything
is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light” (Ephesians
5:13-14).
When we have the light, then we can see what is
dark. Too often, you hear someone say something like, “I didn’t realize how lost I was”, “I didn’t
realize how bad things were.” We live in darkness
and don’t even know it until we see the light.
We’ve got to stay out of the shadows. Overwhelming darkness often begins as an underwhelming shadow. Ephesians 5:15-16a provides
the guideline to “Look carefully then how you
walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best
use of the time, because the days are evil.”
The other night, my wife fixed some pizza and a
little fruit medley for us for supper. I made the
mistake of eating the fruit first. I ended up not being able to eat my typical third slice of pizza. I had
filled up on too much good fruit! It won’t happen
again. Walk carefully, and fill up your days with
the good. You won’t have time to be bad. Fill up
your desire with God himself: the Holy Spirit. You
won’t have room for sinful desire. Don’t fill up on
darkness. Fill the darkness with light.