Skip to main content

Do's And Don'ts


          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. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:15-20)

          The first thing that stood out to me in today’s passage is the comment that “the days are evil.” At first, I thought in terms of “Yeah, the days are evil – look how they conspire against my getting anything done. They limit the amount of good we can do.” That’s why we need to have wisdom and to understand what God’s will is, so we can do the most good we can do. And…that works. It makes perfect sense, even though it’s undoubtedly not what God meant.
           It is far more likely that what He meant is that the days, or the times in which we live are evil. They were evil when Paul lived. They are evil now. The main difference may be that there are more people, with more power and opportunity to do evil than ever before. Because of this, we need, if anything, to be wiser than Paul.
And even back then, God warned his people to be careful how they live. I hate the sound of that. Some of my struggles at the moment are over being responsible and giving myself permission. I prefer to take intermittent care so that I don’t have to be constantly vigilant, but I find that doesn’t work as well as I’d like.
          What, specifically, does Paul suggest?
1)      Understand what the Lord’s will is.
          This isn’t “Should I wear the red shirt, or the yellow shirt? What do you say, Lord?” We seem to like to make a big deal about God’s will, but it’s simple. His will is that we will love Him with all our heart, souls, minds, and strengths, and that we will love our neighbors as ourselves. His will is that we have faith in Him and obey Him.
2)      Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.
          This isn’t “But beer or whiskey are OK, right?” Debauchery is excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures. People drink to relax and unwind, I’m told, but drunkenness generally result in people doing things they would never do while sober. Embarrassing things. Foolish things.
3)      Be filled with the Spirit
          How does one do this? What does it mean? For some people, it seems to be an almost magical, empowering thing. That hasn’t been my experience. For me to be filled with something means that there is nowhere that the filling substance isn’t. This means there’s no “God can have my heart, but not my sexuality,” or “God can have my Sunday morning, but not my Friday night, or Sunday afternoon, or Monday morning.”  I don’t know which are less likely to be God-filled: the parts of our lives where we feel out-of-control, or the areas in which we think we’re most in-control.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Right Road

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)                  For years before GPSes existed, I told people I wanted something in my car that would tell me, “Turn left in half a mile…turn left in a quarter mile…turn left in 500 feet… turn left in 100 feet…turn left now …You missed the turn, Dummy!” The problem isn’t necessarily that I get lost so much as I’m afraid I’ll get lost. I don’t want to have to spend my whole trip stressing over the next turn. I have the same problem with my spiritual journey.   
Post a Comment
Read more

Died as a Ransom

                 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)                  This is something I’d really rather not think about but here it is and it’s important. I was reading in Bold Love about seeking revenge.  The author wrote of seeking justice when a supposed Christian does something sinful, harmful, and/or horrific, like sexually abusing a daughter.  And the thought that came to mind was of God asking if Jesus’ death was sufficient payment to me for the sin committed against me.                I have no specific longing for revenge, vengeance, or justice. I’m sure there are some lurking somewhere in my heart, but this wasn’t a response to one. It was more a question of principle. Jesus’ death was sufficient payment for to God for our sins.  That’s the standard Sunday Schoo
1 comment
Read more

Out of the Depths

  Out of the depths I have cried to You, Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleadings.   If You, Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, so that You may be revered. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and I wait for His word. My soul waits in hope for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; Yes, more than the watchmen for the morning. Israel, wait for the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his guilty deeds . (Psalm 130)             I like Mr. Peterson’s interpretation of the first line. “The bottom has fallen out of my life!” Of course, the problem for some of us is the fact that we’re drama queens, and/or we’re weak. Any time anything happens that disturbs our sense of mastery and control, the bottom has fallen out of our lives. If the past couple of days have taught me anything, they’ve t
1 comment
Read more