For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light. (Ephesians 5:8, NIV)
Most everyone is back to playing a little golf by now. The extended time of not playing has probably made many of us think about ways or tools we could use to improve our game. Plenty of people would like to sell us a device or method which may or may not be helpful to us. This is true not just about golf but about life in general.
We find ourselves in a world filled with people who are trying to tell us how we can improve who we are. They say if we follow their formula, we will be more successful, better liked, wealthier and healthier. Television and social media pound us with so many recommendations that are supposed to improve our lives, it becomes impossible to sort through them all, let alone actually test them out.
Worldly wisdom abounds but does very little to either improve our life or make us better human beings. If you look closely at what the underlying message is, you find that change for the better only comes with your own effort. You must buy the product and then apply your own effort to improve yourself. Failure is almost inevitable as we abandon the diet, fall off the wagon, or go back to that wicked slice we have always had.
We are lit up as his glorious light begins to live in us.As believers in Jesus, we can see our lives change in a different way. It comes as we trust in him. Knowing God makes us better than we can be in our own strength. The apostle Paul wrote in our verse for today that we were once darkness. Not in darkness but that we were darkness. As we believe and trust in the Creator who made us, we become light. The change before and after we trust in Jesus is as stark as the difference between darkness and light.
There is no product or medicine that is required to effect this change. The only requirement is to accept our place before God our Creator and allow him to change us from darkness to light. Only he has the power to make that happen. We submit and trust, and he changes us from the inside out. We are lit up as his glorious light begins to live in us. Our heart and desires are changed, and we can live a life that defies the logic of the world.
Trusting in Jesus allows us to become the best version of ourselves. Knowing God makes us better than we could ever be in our own strength. It takes time (a lifetime) to absorb the light of the Holy Spirit as he lives in us, but we should grow brighter every day as we submit to God and allow him to fill us more and more with himself. We are darkness but we can be light—not through our own effort but through the power of God himself, who wants to live in us and use us to be light in the world around us. He gives us meaning and purpose and enlarges our capacity for love as he pours out his love on us.
—
Linda Ballard
June 4, 2020
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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