Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV
“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.”
Our walk is our practice, our lifestyle, our conduct. It is
the things that we say and do, in practice. It is our habits, our routines, the
things we repeat over and over again. And it is controlled a lot by our
thinking and by our believing, and by what is stored up in our hearts. For what
we say we believe and what we actually believe can be two different things, but
our actions (our practices) will reveal what we really believe, in truth.
So we who profess faith in Jesus Christ are to look
carefully at how we walk, and we should compare our walks to the teachings of
the Scriptures with regard to what our walks should and should not look like.
For that is our model to go by. For we who believe in Jesus are to now walk (in
conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit of God and not according to our
flesh. And we are to walk in holiness and in righteousness, and in obedience to
our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant).
And we are to no longer walk in sin, for Jesus died on that
cross to free us from our slavery to sin so we would no longer live as slaves
to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And if we believe in
Jesus Christ with God-given faith, we should have been crucified with Christ in
death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created
to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. And daily we should now die
to sin and live to God and to his righteousness, in the power of God.
But this evaluation of how we walk goes beyond just making
certain that we are not walking in sin, but that we are now walking in holiness
and in righteousness, and in obedience to our Lord. And it includes evaluating
if how we walk involves us exercising godly wisdom and not us walking unwisely
(or foolishly). And wisdom involves evaluating whether or not we are making the
best use of our time or if we are wasting the precious time we have left on
this earth. And then we need to make the necessary changes so that we are
making the best use of our time.
And the days we now live in are definitely evil, and they
appear to be getting more and more evil as time progresses. And so now, more
than ever before, it is critical that we are living for the Lord and not for
ourselves, and that we are sharing the gospel of our salvation with the people
of the world, including with many who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are
still living like the ungodly. And this is because so many professers of faith
in Jesus are convinced that they don’t have to turn from their sins nor to obey
the Lord.
So, we are not to be foolish, and to be foolish is to be
unwise, stupid, thoughtless, reckless, senseless, irresponsible, self-indulgent
and driven by self-pleasure. These are people who live by their emotions and
not by faith in Jesus Christ, even though they may profess faith in Jesus
Christ. They do what their flesh dictates and not what the Scriptures teach.
They live for the moment, and they do not consider their actions in the light
of God’s word. And they do not take into account how their actions will impact
other people.
But we are to understand what the will of God is, and then
we are to do his will in his power and strength and wisdom. And the only way
that we are going to understand the will of God is by studying the Scriptures
(in context), and by listening to our Lord speak truth into our hearts and
minds via the Holy Spirit, and then by obeying the will of God for our lives.
For the more we obey the greater our understanding will be of God’s will. And
that is because understanding comes with practice and experience.
And then we need to understand that obedience to our Lord is
not optional. We cannot choose to not obey the Lord and still be in
relationship with God, with Jesus Christ. For if we claim to be in fellowship
with God while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, then we lie. And if we
claim to know God, but we do not obey his commands (New Covenant), then we lie.
For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord
are not our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. Please take
this seriously!
Have Thine Own Way, Lord
Words by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907
Music by George C. Stebbins, 1907
Have
Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou
art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold
me and make me after Thy will,
While
I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have
Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search
me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter
than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As
in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have
Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded
and weary, help me I pray!
Power,
all power, surely is Thine!
Touch
me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have
Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold
o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill
with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ
only, always, living in me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11avpKNLsA
Caution:
This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment