Escaping Futility for Fruitfulness

Do you ever see the news and wonder, “How could people do that? How could they be so cruel and callous?”

How often have you been hurt and thought, “Why would they do that? How could they not care?”

Yet, how many times have I hurt someone without realizing it that caused them to wonder the same thing? How many times have I been so focused on my needs that I hurt someone without even thinking about it or worse not caring?

How many times have I lived in the darkness and brought it to someone else?

Paul writes difficult words when he continues on his thoughts. He’s told the Ephesian Christians not to live like those who live apart from God. Here he gives a picture of what that life is like.

“Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.” (Ephesians 4: 19-20 NIV)

It shows a progression from losing sensitivity to God’s directions, to giving themselves over to darkness, to living fully in it and then craving even more.

In many ways it’s terrifying as you see the potential for someone to so reject God’s love that God finally gives them over to their choice. He stops wooing them and let’s them plunge into the darkness they crave.

Yet the good news is Christ offers a different way.

And it comes as we instead of giving ourselves over to our own desires give ourselves over to the life God has planned for us. A life of light and joy rather than darkness and despair.

Then instead of being caught up in that darkness we have power to live in the light. Instead of focusing only on ourselves we see others and God as more important. So we begin to love them instead of being fixated on ourselves.
And we continue to grow in that love and amazing life it brings instead of spiraling downward in lusting for more for ourselves.

We truly are released from the futility of living in that darkness and the despair it brings. And instead we live in the light that fills us from the inside.

Futility or fruitfulness the choice is ours.  {Tweet}

How have you seen this played out in your life?