DAY #288: Ephesians 5:1-20

Because of our relationship with God through Christ and the power given us through the Spirit, we are to become Godlike in our characteristics and obedient disciples in our lifestyles.

Just as children imitate their parents, believers should follow God’s example. His great love for us led him to sacrifice his Son so that we might live. We can do that by following his example in Christ, emulating his attributes in our lives.

How we live our lives should be characterized by our oneness with Christ. Paul explained that we are to live a life filled with love for others. Our love for others should be of the same kind that Christ showed to us—a love that goes beyond affection to self-sacrificing service.

Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes are so common that we begin to take them for granted. Paul cautioned, however, that improper language should have no place in a Christian’s conversation because it does not reflect God’s gracious presence in us.

Immorality, impurity, and greed are compared to idolatry because those who consistently engage in these types of activities are idolaters. Because they have allowed their desires to run their lives, those desires are their gods.

There can be no clearer distinction between the new life and the old life than to compare them to light and darkness. Light and darkness cannot coexist, so a life redeemed by the blood of Christ and brought into the light of his truth must not continue in the darkness of a sinful lifestyle.

Light and darkness cannot coexist, so children of the light must take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness. Believers must separate themselves from sin, having no part of it. This does not mean that believers must be separate from unbelievers, but they must “take no part” in their sinful actions.

While believers should stand for the truth, they ought not get caught up in empty talk and gossip about the shameful actions that are indictive of the sinful nature. We should not promote or dignify sin by even so much as discussing it.

Because of believers’ responsibility to live in the light, we must be careful how we live. Our lives must please God. Paul encouraged the believers to live not as fools but as those who are wise. In other words, they must take their knowledge of Christ and apply it to their everyday lives and be especially aware of their conduct with unbelievers.

Making the most of every opportunity for doing good conveys the idea of “buying from time” or “redeeming time.” The believers should carefully use their time, making use of opportunities for doing good. Believers must not waste their time acting thoughtlessly. We have a job to do, and our lives must reflect our motivation and our goal—to serve our Lord, to share his gospel message, and to be ready for his Kingdom.

Finally, Paul encouraged the believers to sing and make music that comes from hearts that praise God. This makes a contrast between the music of Christians, sung together in praise to God, and the music of unbelievers, done purely for entertainment or self-praise. The primary focus of our singing is to give thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what i have read today?)

The thought that keeps pulsating through my mind is - MAKE THE MOST OF MY TIME.

That leads me to think of the phrase - DON'T WASTE MY LIFE.

Lord, help me us this one and only life that you have given me to do Your will and to live out Your plans and purposes. Help me do a better job of capturing the time you have given me.

Lord, help me day in and day out to DETERMINE TO LIVE WITH PASSION.
What is passion? A lot of people think it synonymous with excitement. It’s not. Excitement comes and goes. Yesterday I got a slurpy. I was really excited for that slurpy. That’s me. But it’s gone. That’s not passion. Passion is deeper. Passion bubbles up in your soul. It’s what you live for. It’s what you get up in the morning for. Passion recognizes that life is short.

Passion embraces a bigger picture of life. Passion appears when one’s close to God. Listen to how important passion is to God. Matthew 22:37-38, the Great Commandment, from the message Bible “Jesus said, " 'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important ...”

Do you get that? God wants you to love Him with all of your passion. He wants to be your life. He wants to be your passion. You’ve heard me say before, Greeks didn’t write obituaries for each other – They simply asked one question – did he/she live with passion? I dig that. Folks, today if you get nothing else get this – you must live a life of passion.

The frustrating thing for me? I can’t coach you how to live with passion. I can’t give you a heart transplant. You can’t take a pill to get passion. I can’t say, “Get up in the morning and listen to Tony Robbins and walk on hot coals and greet people like you’re amped up on triple expresso - that’s passion.” No, that’s fake.

Passion is the result of your pursuing what matters most. Passion wakes up inside of you when you understand what matters most. Passion comes when you decide to give your life to something greater than yourself. So the question is: Am I living my life with passion and am I passionate about the right things? You’ve got to start there.

"Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should." Psalms 90:12 (LB)