Devotional by Kate Ryan

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Romans 13:11-12 NIV

For context, this passage immediately follows Paul making the case that all the commandments in the law (thou shalt not murder, steal, commit adultery…etc.) can be summed up in the one command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And now, Paul is highlighting an urgency for us to do so while “understanding the present time.”

When I first read this text, I was hit with the gravity of the current reality we, as believers, are living in. A time where Jesus has come and Jesus is coming. How do we reconcile the parallel realities that Jesus has already proven victorious over sin and death AND YET we are still bombarded with acts of evil all around us and daily in the news? While Paul alludes to this dichotomous reality, he doesn’t dwell on the negative. He makes reference to darkness and evil, but challenges us as Christians to live with the understanding that sin is no longer the main truth about our present day because of Jesus’ sacrifice as the true light of the world (John 8:12). Paul speaks hope to those of us struggling with the weight of our current sinful state and incomplete salvation by reminding us to focus on the promised day of Jesus’ return. As a result of this truth, Paul says it is time to wake up and immediately put on the armor of light if we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. In other words, to be awake is to be at war.

To be honest, I’ve never thought of light as a mechanism for defense in battle. I’ve usually thought of light as something that intends to expose and as such can feel much more vulnerable than hiding in the dark. However, Paul is making the case that in the perfect light of Christ, we are both fully exposed and fully protected. We don’t need to feel vulnerable and afraid, but rather known and confident as we enter the battlefield. As my husband is always reminding me during football season, it’s been said “the best offense is a good defense.” In this case, the Christian defense is an active one. Paul reminds me that I wake up to a spiritual battlefield, and God is inviting me to stand, defend, and fight. To be clear, I don’t wage war as if the battle outcome is unknown.. I am a child of God, freed from condemnation, but putting on the armor of light, the armor of Christ himself, means I hold fast to hope, faith, and love as if they were a custom fit shield to my body as I prayerfully join Christ in pursuit of the hearts of family members, friends, neighbors, and strangers.

I invite you to wrestle through the following questions alongside me this morning: Where am I still asleep/going through the motions during this in-between season of Jesus’ coming and still to come? What deeds of darkness do I need to set aside and how might putting on the armor of light shift my intentionality as I engage in conversations with those God has placed around me?