Live in the light

Romans 13:12-13 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. What do you do when you wake up and get out of bed? My guess is that you get dressed for the day. You think about what is to come, and you dress accordingly. We can tell that is what Paul had in mind as he was encouraging the Romans to owe love to everyone and love their neighbor as themselves as a result of receiving the riches of the mercies of God. The night referred to the time in their lives when they lived in darkness, when they were asleep to God, and were wearing night clothes—the deeds of darkness—partying, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity and sensuality, strife, and jealousy. All of these were self-gratifying sins that were common to their culture. When they were asleep in the dark, they treasured being happy in this world more than being happy and satisfied with Jesus. They didn’t know Jesus was even an option at that time in their lives. But the night was almost gone. It wasn’t totally gone. There was still enough pre-dawn gloom to lure them to stay in bed, but they knew the day was near. So what were they to do? Stay in bed a little longer, dressed in their ugly pajamas? Or, get up, get dressed, and get to loving with Jesus? Paul admonished them to put off the deeds of darkness (their sleeping clothes) and put on the armor of light. Apparently, they were to expect some pressing and squeezing, some tribulation, a battle. They needed protective dress, armor of light, he called it. The armor of light referred to their behavior. They were to behave properly as in the day. In other words, once a person is dressed for the day, they know they only have so much daylight to work with. They don’t want to waste precious daylight, so they do the honorable, proper thing, and get to work. In the next verse, Paul specifically stated what armor of light he had in mind. We’ll talk about that tomorrow. I hope you’ll be encouraged to wake up each day and get dressed to live to love with Jesus. I suggest that living to love with Jesus will protect you from the deeds of darkness. You can’t stay in bed and be dressed for the day at the same time. Let’s get up, get dressed in our armor of light, and get with it—with Jesus. Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com