Tuesday 19 Jun 2018

June 19: Ephesians 5:8-14

Key Verse: Ephesians 5:11
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

Devotion:
There are so many things in life which will let us down, but the one thing which will probably let us down the most is simply ourselves. Unless we are going to be careful about things, then we are going to find we will let ourselves down just because we give in to things around us. If we are going to allow ourselves to walk and talk like a fool, should we wonder then why we should not be treated like a fool? If we are not going to worry about what we let into our lives, then why should other people worry about what they do to us? If we do not worry about how we act, why should others treat us the way that we want them to? If we wear the hat, then we should expect to be called by that hat.

God has given us time as something for us to use. He has given us a time on earth for us to use and not abuse. We have all the instructions for us to use that time in the best possible way; hence we should be aiming at achieving the best in our lives. Far too often, though, we ignore those instructions and carry on regardless – without giving thought to the consequences! Looking back, we can see that is not wise, but at the time we did not give thought to whether our actions were wise or not.

When we feel down we often seek the fastest fix that will lift our spirits without giving regard to either those around us or to what will happen in the longer term. We run for the quick fix and then wonder why we feel even more down in the dumps after our quick fix wears off and leaves us in the same trouble we were in in the first place; but this time we know our quick fix has changed nothing and that gets us down even more! If we do want to be lifted up, then we have to go about things in the right way. Ignore the quick fix scenario and aim for something which goes beyond our time on earth. If we aim to our eternal future with God, then we can expect more things to fall into place here on earth while we work in God’s care. It is not going to be a life where everything is perfect because we live in a troubled world; but we should be able to make more sense od things when we see them through God’s eyes rather than our own.

Points to Ponder:
Does your life go more smoothly when you listen to authority

Do you submit to God’s authority?