“…children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” (Philippians 2:15-16 NIV)

I absolutely love these verses! Sometimes it seems like all we hear is bad news. We hear it at work. We hear it on the news. We hear it at home. We hear it at church. It’s hard sometimes not to have a negative attitude about everything.

So here is a verse that should help you feel a little better. I love how Paul describes us in these verses. We are children of God who are forced to live in a crooked and depraved world. But in that world, we shine like stars as we hold out to those in darkness the word of life. What an awesome description of how God sees our lives down here. The facts are the facts. We are children of God. We have been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit and have been made God’s children through adoption. Jesus bought us back from this crooked and depraved world through His death and resurrection. It is also a fact that we now live in a crooked and depraved world. It suffers terribly as so many wander in spiritual darkness. Finally, it is a fact that, because of our faith in Jesus, we shine like stars in this dark world. We are the light that draws others from their darkness to the light of God’s truth. We do this most effectively when we are holding out the word of life. God’s word is life-giving and life-sustaining. God uses us to draw others to Him.

Today, may we shine brightly as we hold the word of life out to a world that so desperately needs to hear it.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church