Walk This Way

I am probably not the only one who, at times, can get sentimental and begin to reflect upon my life. How did I get where I am? I think about where I would be if I had chosen a different path. The “what ifs” can cause us to be very thankful or have many regrets, and usually there is a little of both. The biggest and greatest choice anyone can make is to become a follower of Jesus Christ. This choice alone brings on another big group of choices, or paths.

How do we go about making the right choices, choices that the Lord would have us make and not choices our flesh desires? Ephesians chapter 5 gives us some great wisdom given by the Holy Spirit. Verses 8-11, “For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.”

We see a sharp contrast between how our lives were and how they should be now. The Holy Spirit reminds us that there was a time when we all were in darkness, but for the one who has given their life to Jesus, that is all in the past. Now, we are “light in the Lord.” The contrast should be as powerful as a light being turned on in a dark room. Now, since we are children of light, we need to act like it. The term is “walk as children of light.” This may sound great, but the question that comes up is, how do we walk in such a way? The Holy Spirit explains that we know we are walking in light because we will produce three qualities: goodness, righteousness, and truth.

While we are producing these three attributes, we will also have a great desire to learn and do what is pleasing to our Lord. Remember when we lived in darkness, our lives revolved around us, our wants, and our desires. Let’s be honest, they were not usually good for us or others, and never pleased the Lord. Then we are given one more challenge, and that is not to participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness. This can be extremely difficult if we are new followers of Christ and still have close friends who are bound by the evil one. They will continue to do things that please their flesh and will want you to participate. We are called to just stop. But the child of light is to go one step further. Not only are we not to participate, but we are also commanded to call out these sinful acts and ideas for what they are. We are told to expose the darkness.

This will not always be popular among the lost, and maybe even other believers, but our call is to follow Jesus, not man. We have been given the path, so let us walk this way.