A Word in Season: A Careful Walk (Ephesians 5:15)

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Although the language may seem a little strange to us, we have all seen somebody walk circumspectly, as Paul describes it in Ephesians chapter five and verse 15.

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If you've ever seen a barefoot father getting into the room where his children have been playing with Lego and crossing from one side to the other without stepping on any of those phenomenally painful little blocks of plastic, you've seen somebody walk that way.

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Or the person who's wearing no shoes and the plate or the bowl or glass have broken on the floor, smashed into pieces, and they're now ensuring that they cross from one side to the other without cutting themselves.

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Or the person walking through the field where the cows have been, taking care where they put their feet to make sure that they don't foul themselves on what the cows have left behind.

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That's what it means to walk circumspectly. It means to move with care, to navigate carefully through the space in which you find yourself.

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And that's what Paul has in mind when he says to the children of light, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.

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The apostle has just been insisting upon the relationship that God's people sustain to him and therefore the way in which they live.

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And it is this language then that he brings to bear. He wants us to make our way through the world wisely and carefully to show thoughtful deliberation and precision in where we put our feet as we navigate this world in a spiritual and moral sense.

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We live before God and we live before the eyes of a world which is watching us and before whom we show what it means to really be

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Christians. And with that in mind, we cannot just skip through the world with blithe indifference, stroll through the world with a careless thoughtlessness or trip along in cheerful ignorance.

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We need to be walking watchfully. We need to do that because the days are evil.

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There are not just pieces of Lego that you might step on, not just cowpats that you need to avoid.

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There are spiritual traps and snares. There are so many ways in which we can be tripped up and made to stumble.

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And unless we watch where we put our feet, we are going to be in the deepest trouble.

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If we are not careful as to what's taking place around us, if we're not aware of our surroundings, if we're not conscious of the devices, the schemes that the devil has to entrap us, if we're not aware of the tendencies perhaps of our own souls, the inclinations of our hearts, the sins that still swirl around us and the temptations that would entice us, we will slip, we will step in the wrong way.

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We will hurt ourselves and others. We will offend against our

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God. And so if you're a Christian, you need to walk circumspectly.

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You need to watch with this careful diligence. You need to be aware of all these things, not as a fool, but as a truly wise man.

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It means being aware of yourself and aware of your surroundings. It means asking the right questions, being aware of the particular dangers, understanding the times and the seasons and making sure that you place your feet in the right places.

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The basic biblical distinction between two kinds of people is right there.

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What are your appetites and your instincts and your desires? Are they the ones that belong to the fool or are they the ones that belong to the wise person?

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The one who walks by conviction and according to instruction and with direction.

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The Psalmist said that God's word was a light to his feet and a lamp to his path.

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And it is that light then by which we need to walk through this dark world, redeeming the time, understanding that the days are evil, conscious of our identity as children of God who walk in the light, who have no interest in hiding over deeds of evil, but are concerned to live those transparently righteous lives before the eyes of all.

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And therefore with the illumination of God's word and with the inward assistance of the

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Holy Spirit that we might understand what God has said and know what God would have us do, we put our feet carefully so that we please him and give a testimony before men of what it means to truly be children of God who walk in the light.