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.