This world is full of darkness and depraved thoughts on morals and living. Even as Christians, sometimes we seem to struggle with the day to day. But we should walk in the light, in the Word; with God. We have been freed from our constant fear of darkness and should live pointing to joy and Christ. But why should we walk in the light? Or…walk with the Light? Is there life to be found and power to be grasped?
When sunlight touches our bare skin, we burn with life…why should walking with Jesus not offer good things?
We Become Alert as Children of Light
1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 once more reminds us of our identity as “sons of light and sons of day” or “children of the light”. But after that is a key for us, a command but also a gift. We are told that we are alert and sober. But I want to focus on the gift of being alert, the power behind that.
Alert’s definition is “to be quick to recognize danger or potential dangers and threats.” This world is so full of damaging things to our soul, people can disrespect boundaries, some have no regard for morals, and situations can harm us.
Many people may ignore or skip over this gift as walking as children of the light, but I believe it is a gift of the highest. Not only does God protect us but He desires to give us power to sense things for ourselves. As His sons and daughters, we receive this with grateful hearts.
We Have Freedom to Approach God as Children of Light
When we embrace salvation in Christ, we receive the gift to approach God. To come to Him with anything and everything. But what happens when the mundane of life rams into us? Well, sometimes we bury it within us or try and work things out on our own. I’m sure you have thought, as I have before, “Hey, this is bad but I know there is a way I can fix this.”
Yeah, and it hardly ever turns out good. That’s because as children of the light we were not made to ever solve or try to figure anything out on our own. We are His children, co-heirs with Christ. And what father wants His kiddos to NOT come to Him? To NOT ask for His advice and trust Him? Um, none off the top of my head, at least with a good dad.
The curtain has been torn and I think we need to be reminded that we can approach. We have that freedom and glorious gift to come to Him with anything. If I pull an example from a sentence in the beginning, let’s take the sun. It’s one of the most striking and loved parts of nature. But if we suddenly never went outside, never turned on the heat, what would happen?
First, we couldn’t see the beauty. Second, we would get cold…our skin would suddenly crave that warmth, the vibrant shimmery touch.
Now, we could light a candle with a match from a drawer and cuddle around that. But the vibrant feeling that summer and the sun brings would still not be fulfilled.
As children of the light, when we walk in our identity, we don’t have the pitiful candle we create, we get to approach and bask under the sun. The Son…
We Become a Light for Others as Children of Light
I’m sure we all can hum the tune for “This Little Light of Mine”. Well, that’s yet another thing that happens as we walk in the light. When we embrace and pursue the life God desires for us and cultivate fruit in our lives, people will take notice. Whether we want that to happen or not, we are observed. We become a beacon that points to God, and then, salvation in Christ.
And this is a honor like no other. We have been given the ability to share our life changing news and light. Our actions and words have the chance to pull people into this sonship with us. We are ambassadors of the light, always pointing to Christ. You didn’t apply for it and wait for the chance to shine for Him, we have it the moment we become his son or daughter.
But not only is it a gift when we walk as children of the light, but it’s a responsibility. A rather big one if I do say so. And that’s why we can’t rely on ourselves to carry it out. We must be in the Word and live every moment for Christ, shining ever so brightly. So our lives give a testimony that words can’t even fully describe.
We See Ourselves as Children of Light
This is a revelation that I love so so much. In this age talking all about self-growth and self-preservation has downfalls. This idea to truly see ourselves is lost to the darkness of the world. No, I’m not about to tell you that walking as children of the light makes you shine brighter than others or makes you see how great you are. Nope.
When we walk as children of the light, we see ourselves for what we are. Evil, selfish, hurtful, proud, arrogant, ridiculous, weak, and so many other things…See, not very fun to have pointed at us. Or, so we think.
Once we truly start walking in light, it means we are walking with the Light. (Being Christ!) And as we grow closer to Him, we begin to see parts of us that are so unholy and evil against His stark vastness and goodness. As we dive into His word, we see areas we need to work on. The gentle conviction of the Spirit points us to how we need to grow, repent, and change for the better. For the kingdom.
We realize that we are nowhere near perfect and that with Christ’s help, we can fight to gain the fruits of the spirit. Walking as children of the light lets us grow and pushes us to places we thought we never could fully reach.