Ephesians 4.17-32 (1)
Pray Psalm 116.1-3.
I love the LORD, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Sing Psalm 116.1-3.
(Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above)
I love the LORD because He hears my cries and pleas for mercy.
Because He bends to me His ear, my prayers shall ever thus be.
The snares of death encompassed me; hell’s grip could not unloosened be;
distress and anguish pressed me.
Read Ephesians 4.17-32; meditate on verse 17.
What do you see as you meditate on “walk”?
Preparation
1. Who is ignorant and blind? Why?
2. To what does this condition lead?
Meditation
Christians cannot do the work of ministry that builds up Jesus’ church if we are constantly hankering for the old life of captivity to sin, pining for the leeks and onions of Egypt rather than straining forward into the work of Christ. Paul insists that we must leave the old life behind and get our minds (thoughts, plans) and hearts (desires, loves) into proper focus before the Lord.
Paul’s teaching here addresses the matter of ordo amoris—the priorities of our desire and love. Concerning which, we must redirect our love from the things that marked us before believing in Jesus and press forward to fulfill our calling and appointment as saints of the Lord. We must look ahead with the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2.16) and not keep looking back with a darkened futile memory and desire. Since coming to Christ, all our desires and love are changed—or must change. Our thoughts and affections belong to Jesus. We must uproot them and wrest them free from whatever old, sinful ways still beckon. We know Jesus. We are not ignorant of or blind to all that He has done for us.
The word “passed feeling” is from the Greek verb, ἀπαλγέω, apailgeo, which, Louw and Nida tell us, means “to lose the capacity to feel shame or embarrassment…to become calloused.” Yeah, we don’t want to be there.
Get your loves in order, focused on Jesus and His calling, and your walk and work will bring you great delight in the Lord and offer consistent glory to His Name.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Commit your works to the LORD, and
your thoughts will be established” (Prov. 16.3).
“Trust in the LORD, and
do good;
dwell in the land, and
feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD, and
He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
trust also in Him, and
He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and
your justice as the noonday” (Ps. 37.3-6).
This is the only path to keeping our thoughts and lives from futility.
We no longer walk or think like the world does.
We, as believers in Jesus, don’t ever want our understanding of Him to be darkened;
nor do we ever want to be alienated from the life of God because of indwelling ignorance
and because of a pervasive blindness that persists in our hearts (Eph. 4.17, 18).
The next time you encounter worldly thinking that is completely self-unaware, self-absorbed, and truly ignorant and blind, remind yourself that God occasionally sees us in the same way, when our focus has shifted from Him to looking around (Matt. 14.28-33). And He asks:
Why, dear one, are you thinking this way?
Why does it appear as if you are forgetting Me?
Why aren’t you fearful of Me?
Why don’t you want to obey Me?
Why won’t you rein your mind into more godly thinking?
Why don’t you meet with Me in the Word daily?
Why do you forget to pray?
Why aren’t you as worried as I am about any of this?
Why am I not the first and last thing on your mind each day?
Brother Lawrence, in his writings found in The Practice of the Presence of God, offers this helpful thought:
“I know that for the right practice of it [the Presence of God],
the heart must be empty of all other things;
because God will possess the heart alone; and
as He cannot possess it alone without emptying it of all besides,
so neither can He act there, and do in it what he pleases,
unless it be left vacant to Him.
There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful
than that of a continual conversation with God.”
First, we must empty our hearts of all else besides Him. Next, we must “get our loves in order, focused on Jesus and His calling”, then our “walk and work will bring great delight” to us and to those around us; and through this way of life in the Lord, we will “consistently offer glory to His Name.”
Reflection
1. What does your use of time tell you about what you love?
2. How does simple obedience help love to grow in our soul?
3. How would you explain the role of prayer in getting and keeping our loves in order?
The apostle charged the Ephesians in the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that having professed the gospel, they should not be as the unconverted Gentiles, who walked in vain fancies and carnal affections. Do not men, on every side, walk in the vanity of their minds? Must not we then urge the distinction between real and nominal Christians? Matthew Henry (1662-1714),Commentary on Ephesians 4.17
Pray Psalm 116.4-9.
Call on the Lord to help you rise above every untoward condition or circumstance to know His rest and strength for the day ahead.
Sing Psalm 116.4-9.
(Mit Freuden Zart: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above)
I called to God, “O LORD, I pray, my soul redeem with favor!”
The LORD is gracious in His way, and righteous is our Savior.
His mercy to the simple flies; He lifted me up to the skies—
I rest in Him forever!
Full well the LORD has dealt with me; my soul from death He delivered.
My weeping eyes, my stumbling feet, He has redeemed forever.
Forever I before His face shall walk with those who know His grace,
and dwell with them forever.
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: This week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we wrap-up our discussion of the Biblical teaching on justice. Our Read Moore podcast is working through The Gospel of the Kingdom, looking for the true Gospel of the Lord. The Crosfigell teaching letter continues our study of the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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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.
