Living in the Spirit
November 17, 2022
Scripture Reading:
Colossians 1:11-20
May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. –Colossians 1:1-14
The power of darkness surrounds us. What happens in the dark? I carried one of my mother’s boxes of genealogy information into my living room to find some information for one of my cousins. I left it next to where I was sitting when I went to bed because I needed to dig into it more. The following day as I stumbled through my very familiar house to turn on the lamp next to my favorite chair, my toes slammed into that box. It really hurt as stubbed toes usually do. I hopped around and said bad words as I got the lamp on. The pain soon subsided, but my familiar world had lost its certainty.
Our world, our country has been engulfed in unexpected darkness for several years if we include climate change. We time things to COVID, but it really began before then. We want someone to fix everything. What we are not yet ready to accept is that Christ sent us forth to work toward providing a lighted world as his partners in service. We have already been transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. He has shown us the way. We seem not to be able to accept fully his vision of the beloved community. We prefer our own vision. That has resulted in division and a divide-and-conquer world. We play around the edges doing the things we have always done, but we do not step out into the darkness and shine God’s light throughout the world. Where do we go from here? How do we get in sync with God’s vision and how it is to be realized?
Prayer: Lord, you called us to be the light of the world; give us the courage to step out in faith and follow your vision. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.