I Thessalonians 5:7
“But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”
That’s a great phrase, “we are of the day”. This is mainly speaking of how God is light and as His children, we should be walking in that light. We should focus on the light. Paul says in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” There is no doubt or hesitancy is any of these.
This is to be our thought life. How do we do that when we have problems? We’re upset because we may have been wronged. Some times we ignore it, other times it needs to be addressed. We have much inner turmoil. It doesn’t feel like light. This is where being of “good repute…excellence and…worthy of praise” comes.
Being of the day is not a painless process. We seek to handle these matters in a Christlike manner, yet part of us is outraged. Paul says in Romans 7:18b “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” It takes time and God’s grace.
Part of being “of the day” is having peace. The previous paragraph described the struggle. Jesus slept during the storm. The disciples were fearful, so calmed it. He had inner peace even though outside it was stormy. We are to have peace in the middle of our trials. He gives us peace, but our anxiety clouds it. Even though we are busy problem solving we can trust that He’ll advise and assist.
Lord, thank You for redeeming us and making us “of the day”. Help us to dwell on the good and remain in the day, even though our struggles are dark.