HOW'S THAT WORKING FOR HIM?
Ephesians 5:8-11 NKJV
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
I believe it was Dr. Phil who used to question the guests on his TV program with, how's that working for you? Typically, it was a question posed to someone doing something stupid or harmful. It's not a bad question. But today, we want to take a different approach. Today, the question we are asking is, how's that working for Him? Paul said it this way: "finding out what is acceptable to the Lord."
This fifth chapter of Ephesians is a practical chapter on living the Christian life. Paul covers walking in love, walking in the light, and walking in wisdom. Oh, and don't forget the last part of the chapter, where he outlines what a marriage in Christ should look like.
Our verses today involve walking in the light. Paul declares we are no longer darkness. We are not children of darkness, and there is no darkness in our recreated spirit. When we made Jesus our Lord and Savior, we were united with Him. There is no darkness in the Lord, and we are in Him. So the essence of the message is that we are now light, so we are to walk, live, as those who are light. The contrast being that the world without God is in darkness and under the kingdom of darkness, but that no longer applies to us.
In the event there were questions regarding what walking in the light looks like, Paul already covered that in verses 1-7. He then repeats a summation of that, proclaiming that walking in the light will involve those things that are goodness, righteousness and truth. All these are fruit of the Spirit. Fruit of a spiritual life in alignment with the Holy Spirit.
Then, for a further explanation of walking in the light, we are to find out what is acceptable to the Lord. We often are finding what works for us or what works for those close to us. For example, I know that if Joy leaves the house before me and comes back to an unmade bed, that does not work for her. It's not acceptable to my wife. I am not handy when it comes to fixing things, but I can make a bed. In a similar matter, we are to seek out what is acceptable to the Lord regarding how we live our lives. If we ask, He will reveal to us the things that work for Him and the things we want to change. Some things are clearly spelled out by the Scriptures, so there is no need to ask Him. Paul lists eight things in the first four verses of Ephesians chapter five that are acceptable and unacceptable to the Lord. So, seeking Him about other areas will often involve our attitudes, service, purpose, and giving. But it's good to find what works for Him and adjust.
Paul then repeats his warning to not get involved with the works of darkness that are not productive in our lives. Fellowship means a sharing with. There are things we don't want to partake of that are dark. They don't produce anything good in our lives so we are better off without them. There have been movies I have watched in the past where there was so much violence and darkness that I felt grieved after watching. I can contrast that movie with how I feel after a good church service. There is a difference. We are children of light. We are not built for darkness; it's not our new nature.
PRAYER
Lord, I want to know what is acceptable to You. And I want to know the areas in my life that are unacceptable and need to be changed. I always want to check in with how's this working for You?