Spiritual Theme: Expose Them

Today’s post about February's spiritual theme comes from Pastor Ben at Faith Alive, based on Ephesians 5:11: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”

“As children of light we are admonished here not to participate in evil but rather expose it. Light constitutes every good work while darkness is the embodiment of all evil work. One great function of the light is that it exposes and brings about visibility while darkness conceals and destroys visibility.

“To show the importance of this, Jesus, when he came on the scene, said that we are the light of the world, showing that the world is full of darkness. This further reveals that many things are kept hidden from the reach of man. The weight of this matter was shown to Isaiah and he made it plain in chapter 60 of the book of Isaiah when he said, ‘Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See darkness covers the earth and thick darkness over the peoples.’

“If the darkness that covers the people is thick darkness (and not a light one), then it needs much light to bring exposure. It also follows that without light, no discovery will be made. And if we are asked to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness in Ephesians 5:11, then how many commendations or rewards shall we receive if we also expose the good? I believe there are many good things that are still hidden and kept out of reach by the darkness around us. The only way we can expose evil is to expose the good, for in the absence of original product no one could know the counterfeit or fake product. Fake is exposed by the presence of the original. This was why Jesus added, ‘…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:16)

“Any time we shine, people see; they don’t only see our good deeds but they also see their evil deeds as they became exposed by our good deeds.

“Here is the call. Show the good in you so that the evil in the world will be dealt with. Don’t keep the good in you, for it is the good in you that exposes and corrects the evil in me.”