2025 is a New Year of Standing in the Light and Becoming a New You!
The shadows lurk, but the Light always shines!
”That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God (Romans 6:12-14 MSG).”
From today’s reading, God’s glory came to mind. I like to picture the sun to help me understand that living for God’s glory is not selfish. The sun gives life to everything on earth. These living things do not believe the sun is selfish for doing so. Instead, they grow toward the sun and, with gratitude, long to stay in the sun.
So, too, humanity is called to glorify God (the sun). God does not selfishly demand humanity to do so; instead, He lovingly allows us to choose to glorify Him. When we do, love, joy, peace, and patience are reflected in our lives as we stand in the Light.
Paul gives a bold challenge to readers who were accustomed to manipulating the rays to be the law and religious tradition. He explains that the transformed heart is now free to step out of the shadows of the law and religious tradition and into the light. In other words, Christ fulfilled the law for you, and now, with Him, you can see the law and walk in His goodness.
Here is how the Light challenges us. I like to think of a car engine and a flashlight. The flashlight exposes the dark parts of the engine and finds that bolt you dropped or that leak. The same is true with the rays of God, which represent His grace, love, and guidance. If you let Him, He exposes these things, and it is up to us to allow Him to fix the leak, pick up the bolt (and thankfully, He does because nobody has time for that? haha), and upgrade the engine from Horse Power to Eternal Power. When you have Eternal Power in your engine, the inner workings are forever transformed! This transformation gives you what you need to go the distance on Earth!
Never Finished Challenge:
Stay in the LIGHT: Don’t be a Sunday Christian. Daily time with God—through prayer, Scripture, community, and worship—keeps us in the warmth of His rays, preventing sin from creeping back into our lives.
Don’t look back at the Shadows: I loved this advice from a mentor. He asked me to write out a life that would result from adultery. The picture came with this conclusion: destroyed marriage, kids, and potential legacy. When you are tempted to look back, remember the cold and distortions the shadows gave you compared with the Light you now get to live in!
Shine for others: This is easier than it sounds! Imagine the beauty of spring blooms bursting with color and life—they didn’t achieve that alone. They stayed rooted in good soil and the constant presence of the sun’s rays. In the same way, you are in a season of growth. If you remain in the presence of God, drawing strength and nourishment from Him, you will bloom beautifully, radiating His transformative light—this not of your own strength but of His. Your life will become a testimony, like a garden that causes others to pause and marvel at the work of the Master Gardener.
What does today say about God?
God IS NOT SELFISH. God has shown unimaginable and unexplainable love. I couldn’t look past the sin and destruction if I were Him. I would absorb my rays and self-destruct. But somehow, His goodness radiates! And I get to receive that, despite my sin! Thank you, Jesus! 😭