This week’s devotions are based on Week 8 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
How many times as a kid did you hear your parents say as you ran out the door, “Be careful!” Or how many times as a new teenage driver did they say as you pulled out of the driveway, “Be careful!”
Parents just don’t want the children they love to be harmed or get into trouble. Sometimes even with great care, accidents happen. However, many times when we get into trouble, we just weren’t careful.
So it’s no wonder that the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul warns us, “Be careful!”
Perhaps another way to hear this phrase is another parental favorite, “Make good choices!”
Here’s what Paul writes:
Ephesians 5:15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The goodness of God desires that we walk in the wisdom of God. This general statement perhaps can be characterized by two other passages in the Bible:
First and unwise person is a fool. “The fool says in their heart, there is no god.” (Psalm ____)
The wise person is one as the Proverbs say, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Bottom line, the unwise person seeks input, advice, life’s direction from sources other than the Lord. They seek input from media, higher education, science, or google. Not that all this type of wisdom is impractical and not useful, but if one seeks the answers to the bigger things of life such as “who am I?” “Why am I here?” or “Where am I headed?” from secular sources, the outcome will be one that is contrary to the Word and will of God.
On the contrary, the wise person is one who “understands what the Lord’s will is.” The wise person is “filled with the Spirit.” The wise person is in a circle of friends that is willing to encourage and support that wisdom by “speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” The wise person always gives thanks to God the Father for everything.
So be careful. Know who you are in Christ. Seek daily wisdom from the Father through the pages of his Word, the Bible. Always seek the Lord’s direction and understand more fully his will.
The result? You will avoid many spiritual pitfalls, spiritual dangers and ultimately spiritual death. And to be honest, you will be able to see clearly the wisdom from God and the blessings that he gives as we are careful to always live as a wise one in the Lord does.
Apply: Evaluate the sources of input in your life. Are they sources of godly wisdom or are they sources that perhaps need to be replaced with godly wisdom?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for not just warning us to be careful to live as one who has wisdom from you, but where to find that wisdom…in your Word and the people who encourage us in that Word. AMEN.
NOTE: Thank you readers for being part of this spiritual journey and growth. This devotion marks the end of four years of posting a devotion from Monday – Friday (with a few glitches and misses). I’ve written over 900 posts in those four years and am closing in on 1000. To the extent God has used these to guide your heart closer to him, I am humbled and give the Lord the praise. MG