So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Ephesians 5:15-17
This week we are considering the "use of time" in regard to changes we can make as we transition from 2022 to 2023. Yesterday, we addressed the necessity of committing ourselves to a lifetime of using our time to live to satisfy God and not to satisfy ourselves. If you ask, "am I truly willing to pursue God's will for my entire lifetime?" and the answer is "yes," there is hope for making all your moments count for eternity. But there is something more that is needed. In addition to "wanting" what God wants, we must "know" what God wants.
Today's Scripture clearly speaks to this need and how it can be met. Let's work our way backwards through the passage. The need is stated with these words, "understand what the Lord wants you to do." If we just coast along, we will be in trouble. This is why the passage says, "don’t act thoughtlessly." We must constantly give careful consideration to what we will do and what we won't do. Why? It is the same today as it was back then, we need to "make the most of every opportunity in these evil days." We always have the tension between the draw of the world towards evil and that which God wants.
Our moments are filled with this tension and herein lies the opportunity we have to look to God and his word for what he wants in each moment we face. If we respond properly to these opportunities, we will be heeding the admonitions, "don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise" and "be careful how you live." Remember, that God is always present with you in the middle of all your moments. He is there with you, ready and waiting for you to look to him and the good word he has for you regarding what he wants for that moment in your life. This is how wanting his will and knowing his will go together so that evil is overcome, and we live out our commitment to live lives that satisfy God and not ourselves.
Lord, I want 2023 to be the start of a lifetime of living for your satisfaction and not my own. Please teach me how to seek you and your word in each moment I face so that I know what you want in that moment, and I do what you want in that moment. Help me to keep seeking you, depending on you, and living fully for you. Amen!
