Ephesians 6.1-12 (7)
Pray Psalm 119.49.
Remember the word to Your servant,
Upon which You have caused me to hope.
Sing Psalm 119.49.
(Wycliff: All for Jesus)
LORD, remember all the good Word You have spoken unto me!
For I ever hope in You, LORD as I serve You joyfully.
Read Ephesians 6.1-12; meditate on verse 1.
What does Paul mean by “right”?
Preparation
1. What is at the top of the divine order of things?
2. What should guide us who are ordered beneath that?
Meditation
Even the most casual glance around will insist that the world is an orderly place, rather, a place intended for and sustained by order. Solomon mused on this in Ecclesiastes 1 as he noted the orderliness of the sun, the winds, the rain, running and evaporating waters. God has made an orderly cosmos because if it were not orderly, all would be conflict and chaos.
Why should we think that human life and society should be different? Disorderly. Uncertain and unpredictable. Without levels of authority. Existing within changeable boundaries and givens. This is the chaos to which certain philosophers would like to reduce society so that they can rebuild it according to their own ideas of order. Call them the Babelonians.
God Who sits in the heavens laughs.
He reveals His intended order for creation throughout His Word. Here, and backing up into the last part of chapter 5, the order is clear: marriage, family, work, service, and certain hierarchies, obligations, guidelines, and consolations throughout. All under the watchful eye, according to the clear directions, and for the honor and glory of God.
Mess with these and you mess up everything you touch. Stay within these and you will know the benefits of God’s orderly intentions.
We need order because we are engaged in war. If you don’t have order in a time of war, you are doomed to be overthrown. And especially the kind of war that we’re engaged in, with unseen powers and forces which only the power of God’s might can subdue. And our orderly God has given us all the resources we need which, used in an orderly and consistent manner, can give us the victory every day.
Stop chafing against order. God loves it. We can flourish under it. And our Master in heaven calls us to it.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do
because God has place them in authority over you” (Eph. 6.1 TLB).
Adjectival “right” is defined as: conforming with or conformable to justice, law, or morality; in accordance with fact, reason or truth (correct); fitting, proper, appropriate, and ethical; righteous, upright; and leading in the proper direction or toward a desired objective.
This right way to live begins in the home (children to parents), stays in the home (parents to children; husband to wife), and then moves outward (Christ’s person into their Personal Mission Field).
But the beginning of all right living is every person’s right relationship to God.
Solomon warns in Proverbs 14.12: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
Peter, in excoriating Simon—the previous sorcerer now pseudo-Christian—said: “…your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you” (Acts 8.21, 22). Righteousness re-established through repentance.
There is nothing that happens inside or outside us that God does not see.
“O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You” (Ps. 69.5).
When our hearts are not right before Him, He knows.
Just as we know when our children’s hearts are not right with God, or with us.
Disobedience is always a dead give-away as to one’s right or wrong heart.
There is indeed, an “intended order for creation”
and that order is spelled out clearly “throughout His Word.”
We will do well to search out all the right ways to live within His parameters of law, love, and order.
All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His Presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
May Thy Holy Spirit fill me, May I know Thy power divine.
All to Jesus, I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender all, I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
(Judson W. VanDeVenter, 1896)
Divine Order—obediently surrendered to—is fitting, proper, appropriate, and
altogether the right thing to do! For all God’s children.
Reflection
1. What makes order a good thing?
2. Is it likely we will always understand all the reasons behind God’s order? Explain.
3. What is the opposite of God’s order? Why is that not desirable?If masters and servants would consider their duties to God, and the account they must shortly give to him, they would be more mindful of their duty to each other, and thus families would be more orderly and happy. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ephesians 6.1-12
Pray Psalm 119.50-56.
Ask the Lord to help you hold fast to His Word, come what may, and to seek the order and strength that come from walking His way and not yours.
Sing Psalm 119.50-56.
(Wycliff: All for Jesus)
This my comfort in affliction, this my comfort in all strife:
that Your Word is my redemption, giving me eternal life!
Though the proud deride and taunt me, I will trust Your faithful Word.
Let Your judgments from of old be all my comfort, holy LORD.
Indignation grips me, Savior, for those who forsake Your Word.
All Your statutes, all Your favor, I will sing with joy, O LORD!
In the night Your Name attends me, and I keep Your holy Word;
let Your precepts all befriend me, as I keep them, glorious LORD.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we are looking at the role of culture in the Kingdom economy. Our Read Moore podcast begins a new series from the book, Joy to Your World!. Our Crosfigell teaching letter continues our study of Coemgen of Glendalough. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
