Ephesians 5:8-14
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,
9 for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.
10 Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them,
12 for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret;
13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
We are called to live in the light, and to try and learn what is pleasing to the Lord. How do we know what is pleasing? Really there are two easy answers. First – search the Word and you will find plenty of descriptions of what God does and does not want us to do. At times I’ve found the lists of “don’ts” depressing, but eventually I learned that taking the first steps of obedience really requires focusing on the “don’ts” than the “do’s”. Before we truly commit to Christ we live as the World lives. But we are told not to do that, to not take part in the fruitless works of darkness. These are the first steps of obedience, to recognize things are not doing to God and stop doing them (aka, putting sin to death).
What else can we do? Prayer. One of the best ways to learn what is pleasing to the Lord is to ASK HIM to tell you what is pleasing to Him. Ask God to reveal to you what he wants you to do, or what he wants you to stop doing. Then … pay attention to the answer and try and put it into practice. I have found that the more often I put such questions to God, the easier things become for me.
If we do these things, in time we move further into the light, and in turn our light shines for others to see.
