Ephesians 4: 17 – 24 NLT
“With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
Up to now, Paul is primarily giving us instructions about what the church should be like. Now, he is going to give us specific instructions about how each of us should live. He begins with telling us not live like the Gentiles do. I think we could also say don’t live like people who reject Christianity do. Those people are “hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness”. That doesn’t mean that they are not intelligent people. There are many smart people in this world who do good things. But those who reject God are confused and don’t really understand what living for God means. They tend to live for themselves, and if we’re honest, that’s what we all have a tendency to do. We want what’s best for us.
Now we’re encouraged to stop living for ourselves primarily. We want the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and lives. “Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy”. Pause for a moment. Reread that verse. God wants us to be like him – being righteous, doing what is right. Here is a prayer we could make many times a day. “Heavenly Father, I want to do what you would do. Help me to see/understand this situation from your point of view, your mind”.
Paul tells us to “let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes”. I think about my days and how much time I spend really connected to God. On the days I’m writing the devotions, I definitely pray, think, rewrite – wanting to write what God wants. But on the days when I’m free from writing – phew, I can do whatever I want. I like to read books, get the cleaning done, do some craft sewing, visit friends and family, shop for things I’d like, take naps, watch TV … on those days, how much do I think about God?
I suspect if we’re honest, that’s how most of us live. We do things that we know must be done, and we spend our free time doing what we like. We might say a prayer in the morning as we start our day, but we are too busy with what we like or need to do, that God vacates our thoughts.
Here is what you can think about today as you go about your work: “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” How can I actually do that? It’s definitely a challenge!
Our song for today is The Jesus Way by Phil Wickham.