Children of the Light
Scripture Reading — 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
—1 Thessalonians 5:5
Once the busyness of Christmas is over, many people take time to reflect on the old year and look ahead to forecasts about the new year. The time is ripe for someone to predict the end and to warn us sternly. Who will it be this year?
Not Paul! He restates what Jesus told his disciples. No one knows the day or the hour of the Lord’s return (Mark 13:32).
Paul joyfully assumes that those who read this letter are “children of the light.” We are going to walk in the light; we are not going to walk in the dark deeds of evil.
Who would be foolish enough to drive a car at night without turning on the lights?
Who would stumble around in a dark basement if they could use a flashlight to see by?
Our toolkit for living as children of the light is faith, love, and hope. With those tools we take on what each year brings, and we figure out what can stand the light of God’s day and what belongs to the darkness.
And, please, let us not get anxious. Read today’s verses again, and take heart.
What do you hear? Does this make you anxious, or do you feel some joy?
Lord Jesus, I thank you that I do not have to fear your return, and that I may already walk in your light. Even hard days are brighter with you. I praise your name. Amen.
About the author — Morris Greidanus
Beginning in 1964, Morris Greidanus served churches in Alberta, Ontario, and Michigan. He was campus pastor at the University of Toronto from 1968 to 1974. After retiring in 2002, he served on various interim tasks in churches and educational institutions until he passed away in 2017. Morris and his wife, Alice, were married 58 years and had three children, five grandchildren, and a growing number of great-grandchildren.
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