Ephesians 6:10-12
“And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.”
“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
It occurs to me the fight spoken of here is what we engage in every day as we make little decisions to honor or dishonor our Lord. Somehow these tiny little battles we face are part of the greater battle Paul speaks of here. Maybe we fight on the margins but we are part of it none the less. Each decision to obey the Lord weakens Satan’s position. This is refreshing because I often feel like I’m in it alone. But I’m not. Just as in an earthly army, I need not know the Lord’s military strategy, my job is to follow orders.
Lord help me! Let this image of participation in a larger fight always encourage me to do my part. By my effort I want to serve you and also my brothers in Christ. Fill me Spirit with strength, wisdom, compassion and drive to honor you in this great glorious battle I am a apart of.
Ephesians 6:9
“Masters, it’s the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them.”
“Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.”
How can we in the Christian West overlook these words? We have for centuries and still do. It’s rarely overt these days because of the political correctness sweeping our country. But it is still there. I fall into this sin also, in the subtlest of ways. When confronted with those who live and believe differently it is easy for my discomfort with them to morph into distain. If I love my Lord, I will learn to make no distinction between others just as he.
Lord, forgive me when I think myself superior. Remind me when I slip. Lead me into the joy and wonder of the diversity you created within all of us. Change my heart.
Ephesians 6:5-8
“Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free.”
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.”
I’ve always thought of these verses applying to those ‘in service’ like maids and butlers. But I am Christ’s servant/slave so I need to pay attention too. Every day I should work heartily and cheerily because my master is God.
Lord, grace me with a cheerful countenance. Give me strength to do my work. I want to do my best for you.
Ephesians 5:29-33
“No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.”
“No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body. As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
Peterson’s translation presents a beautiful picture of mutuality in a marital relationship. There is no dominance. Instead each person loves themself by loving the other. The strengths and weaknesses of each are balanced by the other. When each is fully functional, they combine to form a healthy whole. Together they are enabled to face the world, acting on one another’s behalf. One’s weakness is covered by the other’s strength and vice versa. They submit one to another in this dance of talents. The submission Paul calls for in prior verses works only when husbands submit to their submissive wife’s needs. One way submission, wife to husband, will not work because only half Paul’s proposed formula for marital success is honored.
Lord, thank you for leading Roger and I to learn how we, as individuals, work best together in our own dance of talents. Thank you for helping us over the chasms that formed between us, for healing those fractures and keeping us whole. Thank you for the lifetime of companionship we have with each other because you led us through minefields to a place of wide-open freedom in our walk with each other. Truly, you have been faithful. May we honor you in return.
Ephesians 5:18-20
“Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge drafts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.”
“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul’s exhortation to drink responsibly implies the first century church drank wine. He warns against addiction, a risk with anything that gives us pleasure. The implication is Spirit controlled Christians ought to be able to control their consumption.
I must sing more often. (The Christian faith is the only one that includes singing in worship.) That means I must make the effort to memorize words. My head is increasingly stuffy, as if filled with cotton so it will not be easy. But the joy of praising my Master Jesus is powerful motivation. I’d like to be able to use any excuse for a song.
Lord, thank you for my voice. Grant me intellectual energy to memorize. Help me sing more. I sense it will become increasingly important as aging strips me of other forms of expression. This aging thing is hard. Help me do it well, for your glory.
Ephesians 5:16-17
“Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.”
““Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”
This is a call to live with purpose, every minute aware of the goal, the need, and the darkness. The last sentence exhorts us to know the Master wants. That means spending time with him in listening prayer. Otherwise, we only do what we think he wants, a tragic wasted effort. Only that prompted and empowered by God’s Spirit will stand for eternity.
Lord, I am weak in this. It exposes the frailty of my love for you. If I was truly in love I’d want to spend every moment with you and I don’t. I get called away by the world’s alure and urgency. Forgive me! Help me open my heart to you more often, enjoy being with you and listening well.
Ephesians 5:8-10
“You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.”
“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.”
This makes me think of a clear summer morning. The day is full of promise. I feel fresh and energetic. I see clearly. There are so many things I could do. But that is not what the text says. Only my path is lit. My world is still a dark place. These verses are not a call to easy living, but to a battlefield. Soldiering on my path, allowing the Lord’s illumination to shine, is a service to my fellow man. This is what pleases Christ.
Lord, how I need you help in this! I feel so small and vulnerable. I trust that you, in some mysterious way, use the little I can do, adding a bit mote of your light to the world. I haven’t much but what I do have is yours.
Ephesians 5:3-4
“Don’t allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.”
“Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.”
This isn’t about what we do, although we certainly shouldn’t indulge in any behaviors listed here. It’s about a new orientation that results in changed behavior. God’s saves us. Only then can we live and act in the way we were made to, achieving our ultimate functionality. Like a well-oiled machine, life is easier and eternally productive.
Lord, I long to live like this but keep getting caught in worldly brambles. I am overwhelmed by physical misery and loose faith to pray. I fight hopelessness and despondency. Forgive me. Save me, for I am adrift. Help me cling to you for my life and work depends upon it.
Ephesians 5:1-2
“Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”
New Testament scriptures repeatedly tell us God is love. It’s one of the first things forgotten when religion takes over our thoughts and behavior. Yet it is one of the most important. Satan is especially eager to obscure this liberating truth with rules, pushing us back toward law. Let us learn to love God and each other as Jesus loves, extravagantly.
Lord, I struggle to get the idea of love into my heart. Only you can work your kind of love through me. Fill me with it. Let me extravagantly love by the power of your Spirit alone. May my life leave the imprint of your love in the hearts of all I meet each day.
Ephesians 4:20-24
“But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.”
“But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.”
So how in the world do we,” Get rid of it?” This is impossible for me alone. Only God knows, among the thousands of options, which path is mine. And only he can get me there. Traveling with him is how I learn to be, “in Christ,” fully alive and fully participating in his body, the Church. Paul, in his eagerness to make a point, makes this seem like it should happen all at once. But this surgery been far less invasive in my life, removing one thing at a time and replacing it with the Lord himself. There is pain as in any surgery. But each time I recover from the procedure, I find life more exciting with wider vistas. I have found my pearl of great price, and I would not trade it for anything.
Lord, you amaze me! You are so big and wonderful. I could gaze at you forever. Thank you for taking such trouble to straighten out and transform your servant. Show me how to share this wonder of wonders with others. Help me be faithful in this, for your glory.
Ephesians 4:15-16
“We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.”
“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
Christ is the source of everything I do. When I am up against a wall the answer is always more of Christ. He keeps me from staggering about, gives me focus and direction. He is my only source of nourishment and I need to eat every day, even every moment. He alone raises me up whole and robust in perfect love. He is my model for loving and being.
Lord, I am your beloved creature. You have made me for love and relationship. Grace me to fulfill that destiny, learning from you and living for you every moment, every day.
Ephesians 4:10-13
“He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.”
“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”
Paul uses a living house as metaphor for the body of Christ. The Message interprets this with language that reminds me of a well-oiled machine, moving rhythmically, without friction between its parts, responsive to its maker’s control. It has good shock absorbers for bumps in the road and runs on perfect fuel, the Holy Spirit. Its capacity for work is enhanced by its billions of parts, each performing a vital role. It can transform the earth and comfort a child. It reflects its maker’s nature, pointing to the beginning and end of all things. Most of all it glorifies the One who redeemed it with his own blood.
Lord, what a privilege to be part of such an organism! You have redeemed me for this glorious occupation. Help me to perform my part well, serving my brothers and sisters and giving glory to you.