Ephesians 5:8–14 (NRSV)
Read Ephesians 5:8–14 on biblegateway.com
Verse 8For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light- Verse 9for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Verse 10Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Verse 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Verse 12For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; Verse 13but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, Verse 14for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Devotion
In these weeks of my Lenten journey, I welcome increasing hours of sunlight. Yet even as I enjoy more physical light, I hide—all or in part—within the shadows of shameful remorse. Do you also sometimes harbor sinful thoughts, words, and deeds that you regret having done or even continue to do? We know these secrets aren’t the fruit of “all that is good and right and true” (5:9). Thankfully, we need not remain lost in these shadows. God, in steadfast love for us and the world, beckons us to repent and escape from the shadows. God calls us to enter into the light that Christ readily shines for us; there, we’ll experience God’s forgiveness, grace, and abundant love. During our Lenten journeys, let’s look for God’s call to fruitful service in Christ’s revealing light of love. That’s where we can find God loving us and the world.
Prayer
God of light, forgive our sinful thoughts and actions, which we attempt to hide in the shadows. Thank you for calling us into Christ’s light of your love for us and for all the world. Amen.