Pray: Humbly ask God for wisdom. Ask Him to teach you as you read the following section of the Bible.
Read: Ephesians 5:15-21
Make the most of your time.
Use your time wisely.
Never waste a moment.
Work while there is light.
Seize the day.
We hear these sorts of phrases all the time. As Christians, we must always be aware that this life is not all that there is. And this life is short! We have an eternal hope in heaven with Christ that this life is moving towards, but we aren’t there yet. So, we must live well while we are here. We must live intentionally.
Be aware of foolish pitfalls and continue to grow in wisdom. We do this by reading through and thinking about the Bible. Scripture is God’s word to us with everything we need to know about making the most of the time we have here. Paul tells us that wise living that understands God’s will means to be “filled by the Spirit.” He gives us a brief description of what that looks like in verses 19-21.
Paul explains in verse 19 that our speech to one another should be filled with kindness and the praises of God. Our conversations should be filled with awe toward Him. Everyday speech should contain praises to the Father that just roll off our tongues because it is already in our hearts.
He describes in verse 20 that we ought to “always” be thankful. As we walk through life, we look for ways to be grateful. We can be grateful for salvation, for friends, family, and our church. We can be grateful for meaning and purpose in Christ. We can be grateful for material blessings. We can be grateful for vacations. We can be grateful for a soft bed, a cool breeze, a sunset. We can be grateful for anything, and everything can lead us to worship God.
Paul encourages us in verse 21 to submit to one another in Christ. This is how we can distinguish ourselves as Christians. We learn humility and submission from Jesus himself. We are empowered to live humbly and in submission to the rest of the church because of Jesus.
For you, this could mean letting yourself be open to accountability from other believers. Don’t be defensive when you are called out for sin; humbly submit to others, repent, and grow as a Christian. Learn from those who are stronger in faith. Seek out a mentor to teach you how to respond to the gospel in everyday life. Commit to living openly in community within a City Group. There’s so many ways you can submit to other believers in your life.
Wise living is living by the Holy Spirit. Wise living is being sensitive to God’s word to us in the scripture and doing what it says.
Reflection Questions:
1) Do you often feel like you are stretched for time? Or do you seem to use your time very well? Why is that? How can you improve?
2) What are a few ways you can honor God by living more intentionally with the time you’ve been given?
3) What are some things you can be thankful for? Take a moment in prayer to thank God for those things and worship Him.
Memorize: Ephesians 5:15-17
15Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— 16making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.