13 March - Light or Darkness?
“But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
1 Thessalonians 5:8
Are you afraid of cockroaches? Ever wondered why these creatures usually “terrorise” us in dark places or at night? That’s because they are photophobic, meaning that they are afraid of light. They are also nocturnal insects, emerging at night to hunt and eat.
However, today’s Bible reading reminds us that unlike cockroaches, we who are in Christ are children of the day and of the light. We do not belong to the night or the darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:5). God has graciously rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14). Through Jesus’ sacrificial death for sins, we have been saved from facing God’s wrath and judgment! Our salvation on the last Day is assured. Hence, we are not surprised by his return (1 Thessalonians 5:4), but instead, are called to live lives in anticipation of this great Day.
Unlike those who are of the night, who live in spiritual slumber and drunken stupor - following their own evil and sinful desires, chasing after the fleeting pleasures of this world and failing to recognize that there will be a day of reckoning when King Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead, we are called to be awake and sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6-7).
What does spiritual awake-ness and sobriety look like? It’s being prepared for spiritual battle each and every day of our lives. As a people belonging to God, our lives are to be characterised by faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). Having put on the breastplate of faith and love, we hold fast to our faith in Jesus and the assurance of God’s love for us in him, even as we seek to grow in our love for God, for one another in the body of Christ and for our fellow neighbours. The hope of salvation which we have in Jesus is to be our helmet, which guards us against temptations and helps us withstand life’s most difficult trials and challenges (1 Thessalonians 5:8).
May we as children of the day, declare the praises of the one who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9).
Since we belong to the day, let us journey in the light, putting on faith, hope and love as our armour for the fight.
PONDER
Do you live in anticipation of Jesus’ return?
PROMISE
Even as we live as children of the day, we look forward to the day when King Jesus will return to rule and reign forever.
PRAYER
Lord, please help me to live in readiness, in eager and joyful expectation of your Son’s return. Amen.
Article by Marianne Liaw Sook Huei, a youth ministry worker with Scripture Union Peninsular Malaysia.