You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so live your life as children of light. Light produces fruit that consists of every sort of goodness, justice, and truth. Therefore, test everything to see what’s pleasing to the Lord, and don’t participate in the unfruitful actions of darkness. Instead, you should reveal the truth about them. It’s embarrassing to even talk about what certain persons do in secret. But everything exposed to the light is revealed by the light. Everything that is revealed by the light is light. Therefore, it says, Wake up, sleeper! Get up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Ephesians 5:8-14

Today is Good Friday. So I thought, as a change from my typical Holy Week approach, I would write about some of the joy, the love, the light, the grace, and the beauty that has been made possible because of the amazing sacrifice of Jesus.

Here is what I believe. I believe that Jesus went head-to-head with darkness that day, and defeated evil so dramatically that the best response we could possibly come up with – the best way to say “thank you” – is to live as children of light, to live as if we truly believe, to live as if we accept Christ’s love, and to live as if we intend to embrace God’s victory.

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so live your life as children of light! – Ephesians 5:8

I cannot begin to tell you how passionately I believe this!

• When Rebekah preaches, she preaches out of this conviction (you can get some more of this Easter Sunday!).
• When I write, I write out of this assurance.
• When I look at our daughter Naomi’s beautiful family (and Andrew’s over in Dresden), and I watch how those grandchildren effervesce, living a kind of light-saturated ebullience, I know they are telling the story of grace and promise by living it!
• When our church meets – both in-person and virtually – I can feel the heartbeat of Christ’s love pulsing through everything we do.

Good Friday through Easter Sunday represent the tipping point of human history. Certainly, there is work to be done, but it is work rooted in the assurance of victory. If only more people lived as if this story were true; if only more children of light would have the conviction and the courage to shine; if only more of us would so fill ourselves with love, and light, and enthusiasm, and promise, and grace that it would not could not be contained….?

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so live your life as children of light! – DEREK

Photo Friday – victory photos: