“Be
very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of
every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but
understand what the Lord’s will is.” Ephesians
5:15-17
The opening verse in this Pauline letter (Ephesians
1:1) is missing its destination in some later manuscripts, which has led some
Biblical scholars to come to the conclusion that it could have very well been a
letter meant for the region of Asia Minor and was meant to be circulated among
all the churches in that area. Scholars
note that as is typical of most letters from Paul, there is no particular
conflict or spiritual issue that he is addressing, which also lends itself to
the circulated letter theory.
In a previous verse (Ephesians 5:13), Paul says, “everything exposed by the light becomes
visible”. In other words, evil deeds
will be exposed for what they are at some point in time. It never goes unpunished forever. We came out of darkness into the light of
Christ. Our deeds are no longer supposed
to be evil. Temptation to do evil is all
around us. We must stay close to God and
cultivate our relationship with Him at all times. What are you doing to draw closer to the Lord
today?
Paul tells his readers and by extension us today, to be very
careful how we live our lives. We are to
exhibit wisdom and not be foolish. We
are to understand what God’s will is for us.
I believe there is a general will for believers and a personal
will. Generally speaking we are to
spread the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ wherever and whenever
possible as the Spirit of God leads us.
We are to live godly lives with the help of the Holy Spirit, who abides
within us to lead, encourage, convict and support us as God’s children. If we are hell bent on living our lives
according to our own terms, we will
come up severely lacking in the end.
I believe it should be the personal will and mission of
every believer to strive to imitate Christ in all our thoughts, words and
actions each day. Now this isn’t an
instantaneous transformation, but rather would be a progressive thing. It’s also something we must determine in our
hearts to do. It requires diligence and single-minded dedication to become more
like Christ. Don’t you think it’s the
least we can do with the lives Christ bought back for us? There is no other way to spend eternity with
your Heavenly Father than through Christ’s blood. Forgiveness is the key; perseverance is
vital. Regardless of your circumstances,
stay the course. Your reward awaits you
in heaven. Until next time, walk with
the King and be a blessing!
