Wise or foolish--How Are You Living?
“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.” (Ephesians 5:15-17)
The command to all of us on
today is to evaluate how we use our time and to evaluate what really matters in
life. In the evaluation of our life and
how we live, we must be very careful of the choices and decisions we make daily.
They must be decisions based on the
wisdom of God and not self.
When we were born, we were separated from God because of
sin. God’s wisdom was absent from our
lives and we were born blind to spiritual truths. Therefore, prior to salvation all of us lived
unwise. Once we have come to the
knowledge of truth through God’s Word, the Spirit of God takes up residence in
our hearts and minds to help us live a life of wisdom in Christ Jesus.
If the Holy Spirit is living on the inside of you, the
command today is to live as wise and not as unwise. Live as one who has been born again, one who
has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and not as fools who do not know
God. Many people are wasting their time
and their lives in unwise living. They
are living in a way that leads to eternal destruction with no thought of their
eternal destination. Life is a matter of
time! Sometimes it appears to pass by
slowly and other times it appears to be moving very fast.
Let’s look at how the bible
describes life in James 4:14, “Why, you do not even know what will happen
tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and
then vanishes.” And in Job 14:1 we
are reminded that, “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” Life is short! If you lived for 100 years,
what are those years in comparison to the life that you will live in eternity?
Believe it or not, life is
not about eating, drinking and having fun. It is about knowing what the will of God is
for our lives. Apart from a relationship
with Him, we will never know His will. Revelation of the scripture is hidden
from the unbeliever. The Apostle Paul declares, “For the message of
the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)
What did God
have in mind for us when He created us? We are given some help in answering this question
in Revelation 4:11 where the Apostle John writes, “You are worthy, our Lord
and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and
by your will they were created and have their being.”
In other words, we were
created for God’s pleasure and His good will.
Time is filled with rapid change and is moving very fast,
and the days are evil, and so, we must make the best use of our time. Walking wisely means knowing the will of God
for your life and making every effort to accomplish that goal with Christ
through faith, obedience to the Word, prayer, discipline, trust and godly
living. To live wise, we must see life as God sees it. I urge you today to study God’s Word. The
Bible is our guide for life and living as a Christian.
Many are devoted to the
things of this world. When all is said
and done the only thing that will be left standing is the Word of God. Because life is short and none of us know the
day of our departure, we cannot afford to be deceived by the pleasures of this
world which are all temporary. If caught
off guard when death comes to meets us, who we are then will be who we are in
eternity.
There is no repentance after
death, and there is no conversion after the last breath is drawn. Let the wisdom of God be your compass for life
and living. Wisdom says to seek the Word
of God. A fools says seek the pleasures of the flesh and the world. Make a decision today that you will not play
the fool in disobedience to Christ. Hear these words of the Apostle Paul as he
spoke to the Galatians “who has bewitched you” into believing that
there is another Gospel and you should not obey the truth of God’s Word? (See
Galatians 3:1)
Wise or foolish? How are you
living?
