Vampires and Your Deeds of Darkness
The other day I was watching a vampire movie. Typical outcome…in the end the vampire was trapped in the light…his skin started to burn…he cried out, “Ahhhhhhhh!”…then poof…he exploded into a pile of dust.
Oddly enough, the scene reminds me of something in Ephesians 5:11-13, which says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, rather expose them…everything exposed by the light becomes visible – and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.”
“Deeds of darkness” include those behaviors contrary to what God desires. Behaviors such as sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, course joking, and the like.
The problem with deeds of darkness is when we engage in them, they produce no spiritual growth. And even worse, they cause our spiritual growth to move backwards.
That’s why Paul calls them “fruitless deeds of darkness.” They produce no spiritual fruit.
The important thing to remember is that deeds of darkness are like vampires…they can’t live in the light.
So suppose there is a deed of darkness in your life you are struggling with right now…
Is it hurting your spiritual growth?
Of course.
So bring it into the light.
How do you do that?
The easiest way is pick a follower of Jesus you trust. Share your struggle with them and ask them to hold you accountable. Maybe text them every day with a status update. Maybe ask them to email or call you each day and ask if you have engaged in your deed.
There is a promise at the end of Ephesians 5:13 which says everything that is illuminated becomes a light.
This means as you bring your deed of darkness into the light, God will take it and use it for your well-being.
The process usually works like this:
- You engage in a deed of darkness.
- You bring the deed to light.
- The deed shrivels in the light of day and you have victory over it.
- You feel an enormous sense of God’s forgiveness.
- Your relationship with God grows because you understand more deeply how much God loves you.
- As you understand more and more the depths of your ungodliness, you will understand more and more the depth of God’s love for you, which will in turn grow and grow your love for God.
The process begins by bringing your deeds of darkness into the light.
Pick a deed of darkness and start today.
