“CHRIST - OUR CONVICTING LIGHT”

Ephesians 5:8-13

. . . for you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

Anything in our life that convicts others of sin is the miracle of Christ in our life. This is clearly spelled out in Ephesians 5:8-13. Verse 8 tells us that Christians are light in the Lord. That is what we are! Then Paul adds, “walk as children of light.” To emphasize this further, “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.”

Is this difficult to do? Not really, but it requires courage. We have to be willing to speak up at crucial times. Our attitude plays a crucial part in this phase of our witness. By and large people can read attitudes. To maintain a healthy Christ-like attitude we must be paying attention to Christ. To convict others by our life, we first of all have to be convicted in our own life.

When light shines in darkness major exposure takes place. Many times we are reluctant to release that which seems dear to us, even after the Lord of Light has shown us it is bad for us. This is where courage comes in - courage to let go. I don’t know about some of you but I am sometimes reluctant to let go and hang on to things God convicts me of. But oh, the peace that comes to your heart when you finally make the break! This happened to me with a bad, offensive habit that had attached itself to me. The peace comes when we experience Christ replacing the habit with Himself. In their conviction people may become angry with you. If that happens, rejoice and be glad that God is working in you life.

I want to thank all of you for a great year. I have had my ups and downs - mainly ups. God has done so very, very much in my life and in our family. He is certainly a gracious God to put with me. You all mean more to me than I could ever put into words. So continue to let God work in your lives. I pray for our church every day - that the leadership may continue to be united. This will have a large impact on the body as a whole. Continue to pray for our pastor and his family. God bless.

Love to you all.