Loving God of grace and peace, pour out Your rich blessings upon the needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus' Name, amen.
Our text for today comes from Ephesians 5:1-17: 1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be associated with them. 8 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." 15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
I love the smell of Kirkland's. I won't deny it. It doesn't matter what mall in the country I may find myself in, if there's a Kirkland's, I'll walk into it just long enough to get a whiff of that store's aroma. I don't know how they do it, but for me, it's a uniform smell of everything good that they sell. I don't own stock in Kirkland's nor do I buy enough stuff in there nor do they ever give me any free stuff to justify this free commercial, I love the way the store smells. Which brings us to verse 2: Are you living a life in love so "sweet smelling" that it just draws people to you? If you think about it there are those people whose very appearance makes you smile. I'm talking about you walking down the street or sitting in a room awaiting for a meeting and then you see the person whose life has blessed you in a sweet way and you find yourself either smiling or grinning because he or she is there. So should we be living our lives that others are blessed just by knowing the love we have for them. Paul reminds us to remember the love Christ had for us in laying down his life for us. The rest of the verses in this passage remind us of the things that add bitterness to our lives and in turn make us repulsive to others. What a list! Raise your hand if you're or have been, guilty of any of those he lists? Immorality of any sort, impurity, greed, filthy talk, silly offensive talk, putting other things or people in God's place; all these things are things of darkness. We are people of the light and should walk and live as such.
PRAYER: Loving God, make my life a sweet smelling life because of what You did, are doing, and will do. Guide me to the fullness of life and the fullness of light and away from those things that harm and damage me and others. Let my life bless You and all of Yours today and all days. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
