Have you ever taken a fall because you weren’t careful where you were walking? Most of us have, I’m sure. I know I have, and twice these falls resulted in some broken bones that required surgery. Now I am very careful where I walk, so as not to trip or slip on anything, especially as I get older. Older people especially need to be careful about walking as their bones may be more brittle, and it’s more difficult for them to get up again. Hikers, also, need to be careful where they walk, not only for protruding tree roots and rocks, but also for things like poisonous snakes. In our Scripture for today taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle warns believers to be careful how they walk. Let’s see what he was referring to.
All throughout the fifth chapter in Ephesians Paul instructs us about our Christian walk. We read about the need for believers to walk in the Light of Christ and to forsake walking in darkness and the ways of their former unsaved life. As our Scripture passage begins, Paul urges us to be careful with how we walk through our life. He tells us to walk “circumspectly” (vs. 15). That is a word which means to be careful and cautious with how we walk. If you are walking barefoot in your house, and one of your children left a lot of little Legos scattered all over the floor, you are going to walk circumspectly across that room. Parents know how painful it is to step barefoot on a little Lego piece! Imagine how carefully a soldier walks across a field that he suspects might have some hidden landmines! Christians need to be just as careful in their daily walk, looking out for the traps that Satan has set against us. He wants to trip us up, whether with smaller sins which add up like little Legos, or something big, like a landmine, that will completely bring us down.
God wants us to be wise, not fools in these matters (vs. 15). A fool walks wherever they want and however they want. They are the ones that end up with bruised feet, broken bones, and maybe even blown up in a landmine. A wise person is careful how they walk, and are less likely to slip, slide, or tumble. They are much less likely to fall into one of Satan’s traps, whereas the fool walks right into them.
We are also encouraged to be careful with how we spend our time (vs. 16). We all know how fast the days and weeks speed by. It is so easy to get caught up playing some online game or scrolling through some social media site, and before you know it the day is over! There are so many ways to waste our time, even back in Paul’s day. Once a day, an hour, a minute has passed, we can never go back and decide to use it differently. As believers we have work that we could and should be doing for the Lord and His Kingdom. These are perilous and wicked days we live in. Every day there are lost souls dying and going into an unredeemed eternity. We should be sharing the Gospel with them. There are Christians all around us who need our help and encouragement. Are we available, or are we wasting our time on frivolous matters? We need to take advantage of every opportunity the Lord gives us.
Time is short (I Corinthians 7:29). Are we wasting our time or redeeming it according to God’s will? The time we have to do God’s work is limited, so we must use it wisely. We need to make the best use of the time we have, because the days are evil. Don’t just spend time - invest it!
Again, Paul urges us to be wise, and understand what God’s will is, and then to do it (vs. 17). Too often we want to go our own way, and do what we want, not necessarily what the Lord has for us. However, not everything we want is good for us. Parents learn this with their children. They may want to do or eat something that would hurt them, and we need to tell them to stop, and leave it alone. God often has to tell us that, too. He knows what is and isn’t good for us, and when our behavior is immature and unwise. We can find God’s will by reading and studying His Word, the Bible, and by spending time in prayer, and listening as He speaks to our hearts.
In closing, we need to be alert, just like animals are in the wild, always alert for any dangers that come near us, always aware and looking around, walking circumspectly. Be on guard for any danger, both physical and spiritual, not just in the present, but also several steps ahead in our future, as well.
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