Our Lives Matter to God

In today’s passage Paul exhorts believers to be wise, make the most of every opportunity to witness for Christ, be thoughtful, temperate with our drinking, filled with the Holy Spirit and always have an attitude of thankfulness. Does that describe you?

“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, ¹⁹singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. ²⁰And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:15-20

Do you look for opportunities to tell others about Jesus? Are you prone to overindulgence or letting addictions control your actions? Or do you rejoice with other Christians in singing, worship and studying together to bring praise and honor to God. Are you thankful in all circumstances? The pressures of life pile upon us each day, and it is how we handle those pressures that counts. Do you turn to God for help, assurance or courage? Or do you try to go it alone with an ‘I can do it attitude’? Dependence upon God is not weakness but an opportunity for His grace to abound even more. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “But he (Jesus) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Our weaknesses allow Him to show His strength through us. His grace, his undeserved favor, is enough to cover all situations.

Paul is serious about how we live our lives and the impact we have upon those around us for both believers and non- believers. It matters to God how we live and work in the world. It matters to Him as He desires the best for us which is only available through Christ. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, how I live my life for Him matters.