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Daily Devotions for the Advent and Christmas Seasons
Sunday, January 3
Ephesians 4:17-32
by Marcus Wong
New Year’s resolutions. A lot of people make them every year, and on the third day of the year, many are still going strong and are gung-ho about their resolutions. But how many will really follow through? As a Christian, I used to make resolutions, usually regarding my walk with God, for service, prayer, devotions, and so on. If I’m lucky or fortunate, I could have accomplished 40%, and that’s on an inconsistent basis. So the next time New Year’s Day comes, we either start over with new resolutions, or else we try again with our resolutions from previous years.
In the NIV version that I used, the passage for today is titled “Living as Children of Light.” It is pretty simple to understand, and it’s safe to say that verses 26 to 32 are familiar. But even if the verses are easy to understand, they are hard to fulfill consistently. God encourages us to give up our old selves, to repent and live as his people. Living in a world full of temptations and unforeseen events, I find it hard sometimes to be doing everything in those verses. Just like with the New Year’s resolutions, rarely do you find someone who can do all of that 100% of the time. But when we slip, we can start over right away and keep at it. As Christians, our faith is what keeps us in contact with God, and Jesus’ death allows us to wipe out our sins so we can always start over.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, it is not always easy to be a Christian in this world. Let us place our faith in your hands so that we can show others why we are your children. Amen.