Ephesians 4:17-19

Ephesians 4:17-19

Therefore, this I say and testify in the Lord: you all no longer walk around just as the Gentiles also walk around in the futility of their minds having been darkened in understanding, having been a stranger of the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their hearts, and having become callous they gave themselves over to behavior lacking moral restraint into the practice of every moral impurity in avarice.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Over the last few days we’ve spoken about the path of the Christian.  Paul desires to lift up a contrast to those words before returning to that message.  Here we have his contrast.  In general terms, we who are in Christ are not to walk around – that is, to live – as Gentiles.  Paul’s not saying that we have to be Jewish.  What Paul is talking about here is contrasting people who live as though they know Jesus Christ and those who do not know Jesus Christ.  Paul is telling us that we have no business living like those who don’t know Jesus.  We should live as though our relationship with Jesus has actually changed who we are.  I know … that’s a pretty novel idea, isn’t it?

Do you live like you know Jesus?  Would people around you who don’t know your faith agree with that answer?

Second Thought:

Look at the first set of characteristics explaining how the people who live as they do not know Jesus go wrong.  Their minds have been darkened in understanding because of their ignorance and the hardness of their hearts.  Ultimately, people live as though they don’t know Jesus because they want to live that way.  They don’t want to know God.  They don’t want to know how God can change their life.  They don’t want to go through the process of repentance, confession, and forgiveness.  It takes work, openness, humbleness, and honesty about oneself to be in a relationship with God.  Not everyone wants to walk in that light.  Anyone who wants to do so can do so.  Those who do not simply do not desire it out of the hardness of their heart.

Do you prefer to walk in darkness or in light?  When is walking in the light easy?  When is walking in the light difficult?

Third Thought:

There is another reason that Paul warns us to not live like the Gentiles.  When we do not openly confess and acknowledge our sinfulness, we become callous.  When we become callous, we give ourselves over to things that are not right.  When we become callous we lack moral restraint.  When we become callous we selfishly practice immoral behavior with only ourselves in our thoughts.

Where are there calluses in your life that prevent you from drawing closer to God?  How can those calluses be revealed?  How can they become overcome?

Passage for Tomorrow: Ephesians 4:20-23