Passage of the Day: Ephesians 5: 15a [highlight verse in bold/underlined] … 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.
My Journal for Today: In today’s highlight verse, the Apostle Paul cautions believers to be careful in our Christian walk and to be wise; and he likely makes this observation in the context of a previous exhortation to Christians in Ephesians 4: 1, where he wrote that Christians must “…live a life worthy of the calling you have received, …” which, of course, is that of being a “Christian.”
And John MacArthur helps me (us) see, in today’s Strength for Today devotional, that a “worthy” life or walk in Christ is one of humility (Ephesians 4: 1 – 3), unity with other believers (Eph. 4: 4 – 16), uniqueness and separation from the world (Eph. 4: 17 – 32), and one exhibiting Christ’s love (Eph. 5: 1 – 7) from the illumination of God’s Spirit (Eph. 5: 8 – 14); and all of this is living a life of Godly wisdom (see above in Eph. 5: 15 – 17), avoiding the foolishness of the world. And MacArthur is right when he says that such a walk is severely impeded, if not impossible, when Christians make worldly or self-centered choices, seeking to use the tools of worldly wisdom or relying on the wisdom generated from our own deceit-ridden hearts (see Jer. 17: 9). MacArthur quotes Paul again, but from 2nd Timothy 3: 7 this time, indicating that the world cannot become Godly wise because it is “…always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.”
And the latter truth is why, according to the Apostle John (see 1st John 2: 15 – 16), we must separate ourselves in the love of God from the world’s way of thinking and living … so that we can take up the torch Jesus mandated for us as Christians to “… let (our) light shine before men that they may see (our) good works, …” [see Matt. 5: 16] and realize that the ways of God are the only ways worthy of pursuit as we live in this foolish world.
My Prayer Today: Shine, Jesus, shine through me! Amen
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