Ephesians 5:13-21
“13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”
I love how the Apostle Paul will oftentimes in his letters tell the churches what is expected of them by the Lord then a few verses later tell exactly how to go about accomplishing that goal. As we see here in verses 13-16. He starts out talking about the light of Christ. In verse 14 Paul speaks of our salvation. We were dead in our sins, asleep to the light of Christ. But, once the Lord saves us we are awakened and we are raised from our dead state to the newness of life. Christ puts His light in us at that point.
Paul then goes on to tell us we must walk with all attentiveness and with godly wisdom. Not with the foolishness of the world we once were a part of but with the wisdom that comes with following Christ.
We often hear people say they don't know what God's will is for their life. If we are members of one of the Lord's churches, as this letter from Paul was written to those, Then the answer is simple. Follow the Great Commandment Christ gave to His churches. The will of God for your life may not be to be popular with other Christians. It may not be that you become a popular conference speaker. But if we will follow what Paul says in verses 17-21 the Lord will use us for His great work in this life. We may not know the results while here in this life. But, the Lord knows and will reward us for our faithfulness.
If we truly want to know the will of God for our life we must follow Christ. Our whole life must be a witness for Christ. If we are seeking God's will we must truly and honestly seek God's will and not our own. Oftentimes people will say they are seeking God's will but in all reality they are seeking what they want and not what God has for them. The result is you have many of God's people today who are unhappy with their life because they seek after something that is not God's will for their life.
Many are so wrapped up in themselves or in the things of the world that when they hear the Lord calling them they don't recognize His voice. Because it's not what they wanted to hear.
Christianity is not a popularity contest. We're not here to out-do our brethren in the Lord's work. Sometimes it's that small quite one who is the greatest witness for the Lord. Or it's that one very small congregation who has the greatest influence on others the world over.
Reaching the lost sheep of our Lord must be our number one goal in this life. Living a godly life by following Christ is the greatest witness to those lost sheep we come in contact with. We must preach the Gospel, but we also must live like we believe the Gospel ourselves.
Praise ye the Lord!!!
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