Published on 08/2/2006

We're learning to find God's power for our problems at the start of every day. Ephesians 5:15-20 is our guide. Five steps are required. The first: examine your life in the light of his Spirit. "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise" (v. 15).

Commentary

"Be very careful" is an imperative, a command. There is nothing negotiable or optional here with God. This is a present-tense command: "inspect carefully the way that you are living this day." This makes you "wise" with God, as you apply what God shows you. So we are to go to our Upper Room, get on our knees before God, and ask his Spirit to show us anything which might keep us from our Father. We confess it to God, and claim his forgiveness. We stay clean daily with God, before the malignancy of sin can spread. Examine your life in the light of his Spirit.

Second, seek God's will for the coming day: "making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is" (vs. 16-17). "Making the most of every opportunity" translates a phrase which means to "buy back the time," to get the most we can possibly get out of the day which is before us, to redeem it for significance and eternity.

Do this by knowing and doing the will of God. Study the Scriptures daily. Ask God to guide you through his revealed word. Examine your priorities and work for the day before you in the light of Scripture. Seek God's will for that day, and you will find it.

Third, yield your life to the Spirit's power. "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit" (v. 18). People in the ancient world got drunk in their worship of Dionysius, the pagan god of wine and pleasure. By putting themselves "under the influence," they thought they were yielding themselves to this god. In exactly the opposite way, you and I are to put ourselves "under the influence" of God's Holy Spirit. To be "filled" means to be controlled by the Spirit, to be under his influence, his leadership, his will.

This is a command, an imperative from Almighty God, as surely as the Ten Commandments are his imperatives for our lives. This is God's basic expectation for every believer, not some extra-credit status for a select few. Every one of us is expected to be filled by God's Spirit. He holds us accountable every day by this standard. Let's continue tomorrow.