“I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of His calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that He finds in us, His holy ones!”
Ephesians 1:18 TPT
What is the “light of God”? In 1 John 1:5 we read, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” Jesus described Himself as the “Light of the World” (John 8). God created light (Genesis 1). James said God is the “Father of lights” (James 1). God is associated with light. With light, everything is visible. With our eyes we see and appreciate light. In darkness, our eyes have no use.
So the next question must be, “How can God’s light impact our imaginations”? We have to refer to a verse later in this Epistle, where Paul said, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20 – emphasis mine). Our imaginations can have a significant role to play when it comes to leveraging our inheritance. Paul said that we have the power within us through God’s Spirit, making it possible for Him to do extraordinary things through us in His service. The only limitation seems to be our willingness to ask and dream.
I used to be guilty of “day-dreaming” at primary school. And still am to a certain extent. There is something within me that wants to think “outside the box”, exploring possibilities. Imagining scenarios where life is different, where God can make a difference. Paul was not referring to a worldly imagination embedded in fantasies – he was promoting a God-inspired imagination underpinned by God-dreams, flooded with the light of His presence; allowing a revelation of what it means to be a child of God to inspire and motivate us. Through all of this we will realise “the hope of His calling”. Not for me a life of pew-warming, a life of ordinariness. How can I, or anyone else for that matter, be satisfied with that? I want to enter into all that God has for me. And I’m sure that we, as Christians, want to do the same.
There is a pivotal word in this verse – “until”. This light flooding our imaginations doesn’t bring about an instant result. There is a development process happening. Over time. We take small steps of faith, seeing the light of God grow brighter and brighter in revealing what He is capable of. Bolstering “the hope of His calling”. As we say “Yes Lord”, who knows what might happen as the light of God permeates through us into our communities and families.
Being a Pilgrim 