Pay careful attention then, to how you walk-not as unwise people but as wise-making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. Ephesians 5:15-21 HCSB
In the last week or so, I have been adding more and more to my calendar for the month of December. This week officially kicks off the holiday season. Many of us strategically plot how to get in three or more family gatherings into one day.
Next week will bring the first of December and the craziness will begin. People will be trying to juggle holiday parties with family gatherings and church and wrapping up the year at school and work and the list goes on and on. I don’t know about you, but there have been years when I just couldn’t wait for January to get here. I was happy that I had survived and made it to next year.
To keep things in proper perspective, consider our Scripture passage. We must walk as wise people and make good use of our time. The days are evil. There will be holiday parties and gatherings that we should probably skip. There will be parties where God is not being honored. If that’s the case, as Christians, we don’t need to be there, just sayin’. We should not be foolish, but understand God’s will for our lives. We are told not to get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Now right here some of you are saying, “Well, Jesus sat down to eat with sinners.” Yes, He did, but you are not Jesus. The sinner is much more likely to convince us to sin than we are to convince him not to. Think about that one for a minute.
As the hustle and bustle becomes more of a pain in the neck, we are apt to not be the sweetest little so and so’s around. But our Scripture passage says that we should be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is necessary in order for us to be kind to others and to make music from our heart to the Lord. This is necessary for us to give thanks always for everything. When you are already running 15 minutes late to the party or family gathering and end up in stopped traffic on the interstate, give thanks. It could be that God is sparing you from getting into an accident. We never know, but we know that God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9, Romans 11:33) and we must trust in Him even when things don’t go our way. There have been times when things have not gone my way and it has been because God had better plans for me. He knows our future and He knows much more about what we need. We must trust in Him in good times and bad.
We are to submit to one another in the fear of Christ. When we love God with all our heart, we can’t help but love others. We know that God is love, and in order to truly know Him, we must have love in our hearts for others (1 John 4:8). When we have this kind of love in our heart, we put others above ourselves. When we learn to surrender to Christ, we are then able to submit to others in the fear of Christ. This doesn’t mean that we are terrified of Jesus. It means that we have this reverential awe of Him. We love Him with all our heart and want to do what is pleasing to Him. Jesus said that we are to love others as we love ourselves. If we are being honest, most of us love ourselves a lot.
As our calendars get overloaded with holiday events, I pray that our hearts will be overflowing with God’s love. I pray that they will be filled with His Holy Spirit so that we can remember the true reason for this season and not get caught up in all the hassle that it has the potential of becoming. In all we do in this season, I pray that we will trust in Him with all our heart and acknowledge Him (Proverbs 3:5-6). This might just help it be more enjoyable and less hectic.
Have a great day!