Being Careful How We Live Because We Want To
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV Read More
Even though we give all credit to God for the transformation He is making in our lives, He still asks us to obey and seek Him. Our role in discipleship is not passive. That is why we see warnings and advice in the scripture like this. “Look carefully how you walk,” is not the kind of language you use with someone that can do whatever they want with no consequence.
There is also a statement in here that flies in the face of every Hallmark movie ever. “The days are evil,” isn’t written in here from a perspective of cynicism. Look at the rest of this chapter and you’ll see that Paul isn’t making some drear social commentary, but a charge and a warning to the Ephesian church.
If we know that the days are evil, and we know that Christ has triumphed in our dark hearts and in the way in which we used to live, then we can walk with confidence and know that Christ’s light will show in the hearts of others. We won’t be surprised when trouble or distress or rebellion come. We will rejoice in the truth when it breaks out in people as they come to believe in Christ.
The Lord’s will is that we would make known the life, death, resurrection, and complete salvation of Jesus Christ. If we make that our first priority and goal, we will want to not be foolish just to make the Lord look good. One time a neighbor lady asked me, “You’re barefoot all of the time. Is that because of your religion?” For some reason, every activity that she thought was strange (she was about 80 and I was about 24) was credited to my religion. Believe it or not, that happens a lot! The natural world segregates, pigeon-holes, and groups people in to all kinds of buckets. If we do something weird or stupid and people know that we are religious, it’s likely they will group those two things together.
At the same time, if we do something awesome, like sweep up our street or mow somebody’s grass, they might credit that to Christianity too. Walking with wisdom in the grocery store, the mall (is that even possible?), and the baseball field all show off Christ and help keep needless suffering out of our lives.
The days are evil, so make every conversation a potential spiritual moment.
The days are evil, so refrain from playing on the fringes of sin.
The days are evil, so take some time to pray that God would give you wisdom in your conversations today.
The world is watching and believing. Christ is in us to help them believe the Truth.
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