Mon., 4/8/19 Devotion (1 Thess. 5:5)

Today's encouragement comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:5, where we read these words:

"You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness."

Notice that Paul tells the faithful Thessalonian churchmen gathered on that 1st-century Sunday morning when this epistle was read to them, that they were *all* "sons [children] of light and sons [children] of the day." This includ-ed the babies and the very elderly among them. We may be quite sure that many of them—just as it is true of us today—did not often *feel* like "sons [children] of light," because of the continuous struggle with sin, temptation, and various imperfections.

Nonetheless, they still *were* God’s children "of light" in Christ, even as we faithful churched Christians are today, as well. And why? Because Jesus, the True and Perfect Light of the world (Jn. 8:12), was in and among them (as He is us). His Person makes us children of light.

[Puritan quote of the day: "There is nothing in the world so glorious as a grown Christian.” —Richard Sibbes, in, "Glorious Freedom"]