Night
Today’s Scripture Selection: First Thessalonians 5:5b
“We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”
I’ve always been struck by the metaphor of light and darkness when it comes to spiritual matters.
I think most of us can identify with the contrasting images and ideas there:
- The light representing truth, hope, dawning, enlightenment, comfort, heaven, and such.
- The darkness representing falsehood, despair, the end, confusion, distress, the abyss, and such.
And I find it to be not only a comforting reminder – but a vocational call – to read these words in Thessalonians:
“We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”
We are to be bearers of the light. We are to be the light of the world. We are to represent the Light and the Way.
So there is no place for staying stuck in the darkness. Certainly there is no place for leading someone else into it.
Our world is a mixed bag in many ways.
There is much to celebrate, much to explore that is beautiful and noble and full of light.
There is also much of which to be wary, or at least careful, much that is anything but noble and full of darkness.
It all comes down to discernment, which is best done prayerfully.
So be children of the light. That is who we are meant to be – in Christ’s name.
Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to your light and show me how to share it with others in darkness. AMEN.
