July 29, 2026

The Light Has Changed

Ephesians 5:15-16 – “Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

It never takes long before the horns start. The light changes from red to green and for a moment everything is still, which would be fine except that moment stretches into two seconds and then three, and somewhere in the line of cars behind the first one patience gives way to frustration. The horns are not angry exactly, not yet, they are informational, a collective announcement that something has changed up front that the person at the front has not yet noticed. The phone is in their hand, or their attention drifted somewhere else during the red, and the green that everyone behind them has been waiting for is now burning through seconds that nobody is getting back.

What makes that moment genuinely frustrating is not just the delay. It is the ripple effect. The driver at the front is not the only one affected by their inattention. The car behind them cannot move until they do, and the car behind that one, and so on down the line. A light that could have moved eight cars through the intersection on one cycle may only move three because the first one was not ready when the moment arrived. Everyone behind them pays the cost of one person’s distraction.

That dynamic runs through the life of faith in ways that are worth taking seriously. God places people at the front of things, in families, in churches, in communities, and the attentiveness of the person in that position affects everyone behind them. A leader who is spiritually distracted, who has allowed their focus to drift during the red, does not just miss their own opportunity. They become the reason others miss theirs. Ezekiel 33 speaks plainly about the responsibility of the watchman, the person positioned to see what is coming and sound the alarm for everyone depending on them to pay attention.

The light is always changing. The people behind us are always watching to see if we noticed.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, keep me alert and attentive to what You are doing around me. Where I have been distracted by things that do not matter, sharpen my focus. Amen.

Reflection Question: If you are you currently positioned at the front, are the people behind you being helped or hindered by your level of attention?