“But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” –  John 3:21

I’ve recently started a bible study to learn how shine god’s light in the darkness and attended a very inspiring sermon referencing scriptures about being a light. In the sermon, the pastor gave very basic examples of the darkness God is talking about in the scriptures. Although it can mean very scary and serious crimes, it also refers to those things we don’t think are sin.

Here’s the example he gave. He went to a party with very wealthy and beautiful people celebrating their success. Throughout the entire night, the guests were constantly boasting about how lucky they were. They bragged about their hard work and accomplishments – basically thanking themselves for their fruitful lives. When it came time to eat, all of the guests ate and drank merrily and applauded the host for the great meal.

As the pastor mingled with the guests, he couldn’t help but feel like something was off. Not one time did the guests truly reflect on who made their lives so enjoyable. It wasn’t by their own strength and grit. It was by God’s loving nature that he chose to bless them.

Can you relate to the guests in this story?

It’s easy to get distracted by own lives and forget to give the glory to God. As it says in the Bible “Every good and perfect thing comes from above.” When we choose not to give God the glory he deserves, we are cheating him and choosing the darkness. And he didn’t send his son to the cross for us to live for ourselves.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light  (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 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.” Ephesians 5:8-14

This scripture encourages us to expose those deeds done in the darkness and bring them into God’s light. As a follower of Christ, we are expected to be transparent. Jesus hid nothing from his followers and remained sinless when he was tested far beyond what we could ever experience.

Living by the light is easier said than done sometimes. Our sinful nature encourages us to fulfill our fleshly desires instead of doing God’s will. I speak for myself first and foremost and some days, I just want everything to be about me. These are the moments when God calls me higher to live for him and not myself.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”- 1 Peter 2:9

Perfection in not in my vocabulary. Persistence, prayer and God’s timing are. Being a disciple doesn’t mean my life became simpler. Many times, I feel like I deal with a lot more complicated things now than I ever did before. Following Christ means my future in heaven is guaranteed because He died for me.

We recently started this study series at church about the real meaning of repentance. What many of us think repentance means (including myself) is falling to our knees begging for forgiveness or using our own strength to make a complete change. Neither of those are correct. Repentance is about joy. It’s about a mind change (AKA Metanoia) that helps reveal what God has been trying to tell us all along.

The other piece to this is that repentance doesn’t happen overnight. You don’t go to bed hating the world and wake up the next day throwing up sunshine and rainbows. This is where discipleship comes into full effect. God doesn’t expect us to do everything correct. He knows we will mess up A LOT. That’s why His son went to the cross. He forgives our sins before we even know where going to make them. But He does expect us to give our best effort (AKA first fruits – Proverbs 3:9).

When I look at my own journey, I couldn’t even imagine that this is what my life would look like. The day I got baptized, everything seemed perfect. No one could bring me down and I was ready to take on the world. And when reality set in that this life I chose would have rough patches, I learned to take this journey one day at a time.

Sure. I work hard to do what God calls me to do. Do I mess up? All the time. I can’t rely on my own strength. And when I do, I fail. But God never gives up on me. Just like He did to the Israelites in Nehemiah, He lets me make mistakes, but always responds when I cry out for Him. This doesn’t give me an excuse to keep sinning (Romans 6); it gives me motivation to repent from that way of thinking that got me in the jam in the first place.

That’s what discipleship is. It’s trying your best to love and obey God and let him mold you into the image of son. Jesus is the standard. He was the only human ever to walk this earth and never sin. I know I will never be perfect like him, but I will choose to follow his footsteps everyday. And God has blessed my life so abundantly that there are not enough words in the dictionary to describe how grateful I am. I literally owe EVERYTHING to God.

If you already know God, Amen. I pray that your disciple journey is filled with joy and blessings. If you don’t know God yet, Amen. I was in your shoes before. I pray that one day you will get to experience this splendid life and also make the decision to stop living for yourself and live for Christ. I made that choice almost four years ago and I’ve never looked back.