EPHESIANS 5:8-10 - RAYS OF LIGHT

Rays of Light

Lord, may your light shine through me.

May the rays of your love be what others see.

Lord, let them see your light’s fruit,

Your goodness, righteousness, and truth.

May I live a life that is pleasing to you

And does nothing to hinder another’s view

Of your light.

“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)

And find out what pleases the Lord.”

Ephesians 5:8-10

phōs⁵ – from an obsol. phaō (to shine or make manifest, espec. by rays; comp. 5316, 5346): luminousness (in the widest application, nat. or artificial, abstr. or concr., lit. or fig.): - fire, light.

This complete definition from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible helped me to visualize being light in the Lord and living as a child of light.

            Children often draw the sun as a round ball with pointed rays extending outward from it. At first these rays are just lines, but as the artist matures they become angles of varying length. The sun is usually smiling at us from a corner of the paper.

            Jesus, the Son, who is referred to as “the Light” several times in John 1, tells his followers, “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14a) I picture Jesus as that smiling round sun and his followers as the rays of light extended from him. We receive our goodness, righteousness, and truth from our light source – Jesus. Without his power, we are unable to manifest any of those three attributes. When we do exhibit them, we are simply allowing his light to shine through us and extend to those around us.

            When I was a little girl, I loved to sing, “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam to shine for him each day.” Perhaps the writer of that song had this passage in mind. I don’t know. But I do know that Jesus still wants me to shine and that I can only radiate his love when I am controlled by his Spirit.

            Father, let your goodness, righteousness, and truth shine in my life today. Help me to put aside those attitudes and actions that would hide your light and become a Son-ray that lights the path for others to come to you.