Look Carefully How You Walk

Ephesians 5:15-21 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. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Paul had just finished writing to the church in Ephesus instructing them that sexual immorality, impurity, covetousness, moral filthiness, foolish talk, crude joking and all that is regarded as idolatry was to have no part in their individual lives nor in the life of the church, as the body of Christ. There was not to be even a hint of such things among them. For, he said, that those who participated in such things, as a matter of practice, had no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. And he was speaking to the church.

And then he warned them against being deceived, and he cautioned them against becoming partners (partakers) with those who were doing such things. And then he encouraged them to walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true). And they were to try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord and to do what is pleasing to God. And, instead of taking part in the unfruitful works of darkness (evil, wickedness, sin, immorality), they were to expose them.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:9-10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6,10; Col 1:9-11,21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Thess 2:4; 1 Thess 4:1; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

And continuing along on that same line of reasoning, we also who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are to receive these same instructions for us, for our lives. And we are to be those who look carefully how we walk, how we live, with regard to our words, attitudes, values, morals, and behaviors. For our walk has to do with our habits, with our daily routines, but not just in our actions but in our thinking and attitudes and dispositions. For how we live, in practice, is reflective of what we have stored up in our hearts.

We should be examining all these things against the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, under the New Covenant, looking to see where our thinking, actions, words, values, attitudes and behaviors are not in line with the teachings of the Scriptures, and where we need to change to be in conformity with God and with his instructions to us, his church. And then we need to forsake all that is not of God, and cut those things out of our lives, and now in the strength of the Lord walk in righteousness and in holiness.

And we should be making the best use of the time we have been given on this earth and not be those who are selfish and worldly who use our time just to entertain ourselves when we are not fulfilling other responsibilities such as holding down a job and raising a family and taking care of our households, etc. We should regard the time we have been given on this earth not as our own to be spent as we desire, but we should be those whose lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will for our lives.

We are also to not be those who are addicted to sin nor to any substances which have the power to alter or to inhibit our ability to think straight and to behave appropriately, i.e. we are not to be those whose lives are out of control, but we are to be children of God who are bearing the fruit of the Spirit, which includes self-control. We shouldn’t be looking to anything else to take the place of God/Christ in our lives to do for us what only God can do in giving us peace of mind and heart in times of trouble and distress.

But we are to be filled with the Spirit of God. And if we are genuine followers of Christ, we already have the Holy Spirit living within us. But as we put off the misdeeds of the flesh and we put on Christ and his righteousness, in our daily living, we are being filled with the Spirit of God, for our lives are no longer being filled with the junk of this world and with fleshly appetites and actions, but now they are being filled up with the truth of God’s will for our lives as we are now doing his will and not yielding to flesh.

And as those who are now being filled with the Spirit, for the Spirit of God is now in control over our minds and bodies and actions and attitudes, we are to be those who are encouraging and exhorting one another in the faith, and who are addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, instead of with the trash of this world. And we are to be thankful to God in all things – in good times and in bad times. And we are to submit to one another, as we would unto the Lord, out of reverence for Christ.

[Romans 12:1-8; Romans 15:14; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263