Walk as Children of Light

Obedience can be difficult sometimes. Whether our desire for food lends itself to a short temper, or the idea of extending grace to someone who has hurt us seems irrational, walking in the ways that God has called us to sometimes competes with the fleeting reality of our desire.

In Ephesians 5, Paul speaks to his brothers and sisters in the church about walking in holiness. In the first six verses, Paul describes what it looks like for this local body to walk in holiness; he calls them imitators of God. Paul goes on to say that “immorality and all impurity or covetousness” (verse 3) should have no part in the lives of those who call themselves followers of Christ. In verses 7 and 8, he warns the church at Ephesus, “Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”

The Christian life is not one of just being markedly different for the sake of being different. We are not called to a counter-cultural holiness for a lack of joy.  Why then do we walk differently? Because we are so very different than we once were. Paul is telling this church that if they belong to God in Christ, they are new. Children of light who find themselves surrounded by darkness are called to brighten the world around them through word and deed.

There is a unique beauty to this life of holiness. It’s not a cold mask of an assumed identity that we begrudgingly wear. Instead, it is a return to who we are in Christ. This “new” identity is what it means when we get to be fully ourselves. It is living in the reality that we are adopted and called sons and daughters. We are called friends of God. We have been accepted, made whole, and chosen to bear fruit. We can have victory over sin.

You are a citizen of the kingdom. You are redemption-in-action, day by day by day, a chosen nation, forgiven, and free — to be light. Dear friend, because you are so very different — walk in the light. Life as a child of light is radical dependence on the God we imitate as beloved children (Ephesians 5:1). Persevere, knowing that you do not obey for the sake of being different, but because you are so very different. Your demonstration of that calling proclaims the beauty of God to a watching world.  

Rachel Suarez