Do you ever feel like things are happening all around you, but you just can’t seem to get a handle on them? You feel like the juggler in a show, where he continually is throwing up balls and just as he gets the 3 under control he grabs another one. This continues until his hands and eyes can’t move fast enough to handle another one. If he tries, there is a good chance they all will come tumbling down. I’ve seen this so many times in families. As each ball is added, to their already busy schedule, they begin to compromise to keep everything moving. The problem? They sacrifice the best for the “pretty good.”
This problem is no different in Christian circles than it is in the secular world. We want to experience all the “good” things in life, so we add the ball of wanting things. Things cost money, so we add the ball of working more. Before you know it, things at home have begun to slide out of control. We get in a vicious cycle that seems to have no end. Each time we seek to do something to make it better it only gets worse. Finally, we just give in and go with the flow. As long as everyone seems happy we just ride the waves.
In Ephesians 5:15, Paul tells us to walk circumspectly. We are to be careful about our choices, to be wise, and think about the overall effect our decision will have on us and our family. Weigh out what we are doing against what God says is best. Are our choices making our time alone with God, less each day, or more? Do you get so engrossed in your study and prayer time that you lose track of time, or do you find yourself done in 10 minutes? Is it causing you to miss time in the worship service? We all need to be fed every week from God’s word corporately, as well as daily, privately. Are you doing other things when it is time to worship? Maybe you are at church, but you still are not able to worship. No one should have to work the nursery every service, and no one should miss every service to serve in other areas. Each of us needs a time when we are fed by a godly pastor. We need to be challenged and recharged. If dropping the ball of worship doesn’t bother you, you already have a spiritual problem. You are not being wise as verse 15 commands. God’s word says we are becoming fools. Problem? A fool doesn’t know he’s a fool.
Ephesians 5:15 “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,”
We are to be diligent and take special pains to guard against the temptation of substituting things and service, for worship. Verse 6 tells us we are to redeem the time. I like the definition from Barnes Notes commentary. “The word redeeming means to purchase, to buy up, from the possession or power of anyone; and then to redeem, to set free – as from service or bondage. We are to rescue or recover our time from waste and improve it for great important purposes.”
Ephesians 5:16 “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
While there are many things we can do with our time that are not sinful, we can make them sinful by what we give up to spend time on them. Don’t allow society to dictate how you spend your time. Don’t allow children to dictate your time. You are to be an example to them. Teaching and training them as God has commanded. You say far more with how you spend your time than what you say with your mouth.
Do you feel out of control, rushing from one thing to the next, never seeming to have time for family devotions or personal devotions? You may think everything is fine now, but you will see the effects later. Our children will grow up with a shallow, “go through the motions religion,” and when they become adults, they will walk away from the church. When we are not seeking to grow deeper in the word, in our worship, and in our service, we are on the path to walking away from God. Satan will continue to push us towards spiraling out of control until we don’t think we are out of control. We will become deceived, and when you are deceived you don’t know you are deceived.
There is a great cost to living life this way. A cost that will have eternal consequences. A cost that you never thought you would have to pay. Turn around while you can. Take control by making changes that help you to walk closer to God each day more than you were yesterday. It is a decision you will not regret. The effects on you, and those you have an influence on will last for all eternity.
