Ephesians 5:15-20

Paul is writing the second half of his epistle to the church in Ephesus about Godly and holy living. He has switched from theology in his first half to practical Christian living.

In these verses Paul encourages us to walk “circumspectly,” or heedfully, being aware of the consequences of ouractions. He realizes that days are running low and time flies and often the time that does pass is not spent wisely. Paul encourages the church to use their time wisely, because the days we have are evil. This flows right into knowing what the will of the Lord is. Walking wisely means I will naturally know what the Lord’s will is for my life. One practical example of this is to not get drunk. We should allow the Spirit to consume us and control us, so that we will be encouraging each other with godly speech and always giving thanks to God. Of course, this principle should be applied to everything. We are controlled by none but the Lord. He is our only Master!

This passage seems to be pretty clear on how to apply it to my life. I need to be heedful of the consequences of my actions, not just doing anything on a whim. Paul used drunkenness as a specific action to be on guard against. Getting drunk would mean something other than the Holy Spirit is controlling my body, which goes directly against the purpose of salvation – to be freed from the control of the world and placed under the control of Christ. We Christians should walk wisely, being an example to others, and redeeming the time, not conforming to the pattern of this world but using every opportunity we have to do good. That idea is pretty revolutionary and completely destroys this idea of being able to put off doing good. We have only a certain amount of time here on this earth, so when we pass up an opportunity to do good in some way, that opportunity is lost forever and never coming back. We cannot ever add a day to our life, all we can to is take advantage of the opportunities we have, and that pleases the Lord. That is the Lord’s will.

I find the last verse to be appropriate for this time of year, seeing as we have just passed Thanksgiving. I feel like some people have an attitude that wants to stop even thinking about being thankful as soon as Thanksgiving is over. I know I was that way (More so than now. I am still working on it) when I was younger. According to this verse, giving thanks is an all-the-time thing for Christians. I know I’ll always have something to be thankful for, because I can always thank the Lord for saving me from myself.

Ephesians 5:8-14

These are some long overdue Bible journals that I had ready to post but never did. I kept telling myself it was because I hadn't typed up verses 1-7, but do you care? I didn't think so.

Ephesians 5:8-14

Paul is writing the second half of his epistle to the church in Ephesus about Godly and holy living. He has switched from theology in his first half to practical Christian living.

These verses talk about living as light – just as Christ taught to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). We have been transformed from darkness to light and therefore should live like it! Paul lists a few fruits of the Spirit (or in other manuscripts, fruits of the light); those are goodness, righteousness, and truth. Our job as light is to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret” (vv. 11, 12). Only light can expose dark deeds, and we must realize that this light comes only from Christ, for we are asleep and dead to Him in and of ourselves, having no power to produce goodness.

I absolutely love this passage. It continually exhorts to take affirmative action when it comes to living the life of godliness (or in this case, the life of light), yet at the same time reminds us that the power comes from Christ alone! We were once darkness, but Christ gave us light, now lets share it with the world! By living such a life, we will have an increasingly clear idea of what God’s will is, “finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (v.10). So many people wish they could know what God’s will for their life is; I do too! First we live according to His will; only then will we be shown what His will is for our lives. This isn’t usually what I want to hear, being human and having a slight case of what my mom calls immediatitis, but it is so true. Once I stop worrying about what exactly I’m supposed to do, start surrendering that to God, and start living like He wants me to, all the extra information comes to me in God’s perfect timing. Again, often this is not exactly the timing I’m comfortable with, but the point is that I’m closer to God because of the trust I placed in Him, and He is once again confirmed to be faithful.

The next exhortation of this verse it seems to me is to expose sin – in us and in others. As light, we will naturally reveal things; that’s what light does! Partaking in them would be shameful. Even talking about them would be shameful, yet sometimes I find myself caught up in sin. I have to remind myself that sin is a small problem for the God whose infinite love conquered it. It has no power over me because I have the power of God. The last verse is just awesome. It is a calling of the dead and asleep to Christ to rise and to wake, so that Christ may give them the power that He has over sin. Christ did that for me, and it is my job to spread that good news to others so they can receive that power as well.

Cautiously Carefree

Consider this part 2 in the series of paradoxes in the Christian faith. The last one was Swimming in Time, where we refuse to delay in completing what God has for us to do, yet always wait for His timing on all matters. This one has to do with worrying.

In the Bible we are commanted to "not be anxious about anything" but instead "present our requests to God" (Phil. 4:6) and trust him for all our cares. Jesus also reasons with us, asking "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matt. 6:27). Clearly stressing about how everything will turn out is not a good habit for a Christian to get into. We need to trust God for his faithful deliverance. He will take care of us: "...for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked" (Psalm 97:10).

However, God in no way intends for us to be naive in our actions. Jesus didn't live His life carelessly, doing whatever trusting it would all work out. He was practical in his decisions, and we should be too. He acted on what He knew to be true. When people came to Him and believed in Him, He did not simply accept them and "trust" that God would work everything out in their lives. The Bible says He actually would not entrust Himself to them because He knew what was in their hearts. He knew they weren't really committed to Him and so did not commit Himself to them (John 2:24-25).

Another thing to note is the Christ took action, deliberate and convicted action. When He saw the way Israel was treating the temple, He didn't sit back and say, 'Oh well, God will work it out for good. It'll all be ok.' He did quite the opposite! He wove together a whip and started making a difference - He took action on an issue He observed. The same goes for us. When Christ tells us not to worry about where we will get our food or clothes, that in no way means we sit at home playing videogames trusting that an angel will drop off our daily bread at the door whenever we need it. We work. Diligently. Heartily as for the Lord.

There is a balance that become necessary when living the Christian life. We wait, not procrastinate. We work, not worry. There is a middle ground that needs to be acheived if perfection is to be attained. We most definitely need to trust God to be our Provider and Sustainer (Carefree) but let us remain reasonable, knowing that God works through practical means (Cautiously). He favors the hard working. He loves the diligent. Yet let us always remember that all things are possible only through Christ who strengthens us.