AUGUST 31 READING…EPHESIANS 5
The 5th chapter of Ephesians is all about our walk. Verse 18 reminds us that this walk that we are called to is made possible by being filled with the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit means to be under the control of the Holy Spirit. Paul gives an illustration of the impact of being filled by the Spirit, that is being under His control. He tells us not to be drunk with wine, for when a person is drunk with wine, the wine controls them…and this leads to debauchery and decadence. We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, controlled by Him…this leads to us being everything that God has created us to be.
Paul is talking to people who are filled with the Holy Spirit as he gives us instruction concerning our walk. First, he says we are to walk in love. We are to walk in the love of Christ in whatever we do. This love reflects itself in purity of living, rejects coarse talking, and remove covetousness and idolatry. This love moves us to a place of thankfulness for the goodness of God. Second, Paul tells us to walk as children of the light. Jesus is the Light of the world…our lives should have His light shining through us. We belong to Him; our walk should always reflect who our Savior is. Finally, Paul tells us to walk in wisdom, not as fools, but as those who walk circumspectly. We are called to not only know what God says, but we are to understand and properly apply God’s truth in our everyday walk…this is walking in wisdom.
Paul closes the chapter by drawing a comparison of marriage, and the proper relationship of a husband and wife with the church’s relationship with Christ. Husbands are to love their wives the way Christ loves His church. He has made us holy through His love for us. Wives are to submit to their own husbands the way the church submits to Jesus. Submit means to properly relate to. In other words, the wife is to properly relate to the place the Lord has given the husband in the home. When the wife properly relates to her husband, and the husband loves his wife like Christ loves His church…then marriage becomes what God intended it to be. Likewise, when the church submits to the Lordship of Jesus, receiving Christ’s great love that sanctifies us…then the church is what God created it to be.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW’S READING…EPHESIANS 6
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