Goodness is in the Light

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

GOODNESS IS IN THE LIGHT

Eph 5:8-14

8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

NIV

There is no doubt that we once lived in the city of darkness and death, but the Spirit convicted, and we began our search for a truth which we found in Jesus Christ. He bridged that chasm and brought us out of that darkness and led us into the city of light and life and filled us with that very same Spirit to lead us through this new life so that we are now known as a child of the light. Of course, we know that Jesus is the Light of the world, and so we are living in the light of Jesus. Once we were able to hide in the darkness, and hide our disobedience, although we did not know we were being disobedient. We felt that life was the way it was to be, being ignorant there was another life in the light. Praise God, the light shone into our darkness, and showed us the way out in order that we could be alive and well in the light. It is interesting that light has its own fruit, which might be a little different than the fruit the Spirit bestows in with. So, then we are to live in the light which includes living in goodness, righteousness, and truth. This goodness is more than being or acting good, for if that is what goodness is, then all we have to do is nothing bad in order to be doing or being good. However, the Greek word, agathoosunee has a meaning of a righteousness of heart which would mean that goodness is not how we act, but who we are inwardly, and Jesus has told us that what is in our heart comes out our mouths. He used that in a parable about a tree and that people will know us by our fruit. So then because we have good stored up within us, living in the light, having that fruit of goodness, that we will bring forth goodness in our lives, goodness that will be seen. It is just like an orchard of trees, we can know what kind of tree it is but the fruit it bears, and that fruit is just there waiting for someone to pick it off and taste to see how good it is. So, it is with the fruit of goodness within us because we live as children of the light. That goodness, that righteousness of our heart, is for someone to come along and enjoy its taste, or benefit from the goodness stored up within us. We must also note that we do not have any goodness in and of ourselves, but it is a result of living in the light, because it is the light that includes goodness. The light is the source of all goodness.