Will of God.

One theme that all parts of Scripture take up in one way or another is the will of God. God's will is as vast as his entire plan for creation, and from the standpoint of objective content, it seems to be settled and unchanging. Old and New Testament writers can thus refer to God's will as if its existence is accepted by all. But though it may seem to have the character of a broad blueprint, in practical applications it is expressed in specific terms. God's will can also be viewed from its active side as his conscious "deciding, " "willing, " and "choosing" to do something.

The Old Testament. The affirmation that there exists with the God of Israel a will that is resolute and bears on his actions and the life of his people is made in all parts of the Old Testament. The impression created is that he has worked and continues to interact with his creation according to a design. Psalm 135:6 announces that "the Lord does whatever pleases him." His will is also the pattern to be followed in life by his people.

Ephesians 5:15-17 – How to Know the Will of God.

Wisdom, knowledge and understanding are priceless commodities.

When Solomon became king, he was quite young, and so one night, overwhelmed by his lack of experience and understanding, he cried out to God for wisdom.

God was so pleased by such a request, He gave to Solomon not only wisdom, but also wealth and honor (1 Kings 3:1-13).

And the Bible remembers Solomon as the wisest man who ever lived (1 Kings 4:30).

He became rich. Israel become rich. His period became the golden age of Israel. Nobody was lacking anything. There was peace and wealth.

All because of the wisdom of one man.

Of course, His wisdom came from God who is the source of all wisdom. The whole book of Proverbs tells us the value and source of wisdom, but Proverbs 3:13-26 tells us that the wisdom which comes from God is better than silver, gold or rubies.

With it come long life, riches, and honor. The life characterized by wisdom is pleasant and full of peace and safety.

Wisdom should be the goal of every person on earth. Solomon tells us to get wisdom and understanding even if it costs us all we have (Prov 4:7).

Do you long for wisdom? Do want wisdom above all things?

I do. I look back at my life, and realize that there have been some terrible mistakes that could have been avoided if I had only had a little more wisdom. Of course, hopefully, I’ve learned from those mistakes, and so will not make similar one’s in the future.

But I’ve often wondered. Aren’t there ways to gain wisdom without having to learn it the hard and painful way? Aren’t there ways to know how to avoid the mistakes?

Well, I’m here to tell you today that there is. If you want wisdom, we are told how today in Ephesians 5:15-17.

In Ephesians 5, Paul instructions Christians to walk in light of everything they have been given in Jesus Christ. We saw in Ephesians 5:1-6 that we need to walk in love. In Ephesians 5:7-14, we saw that we need to walk in light.

The final instruction on how to walk begins in Ephesians 5:15 and goes all the way to the middle of chapter 6, and the command is this: “Walk carefully.”

Rather than try to cover the rest of Ephesians 5 and half of Ephesians 6, we are just going to talk about the first aspect of walking carefully: how to be wise—how to know what God’s will is. We will see this by looking at Ephesians 5:15-17.

Walk Carefully

Ephesians 5:15. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,

In these verses Paul commands us to walk circumspectly. This is the final way in Ephesians to walk as Christians.

To walk circumspectly means to walk carefully or to walk accurately. When you walk carefully, you look all around before we take a step. It is how you walk when you’re in a barnyard, you don’t want to step on anything left behind by cows or horses.

It is how you walk when you are barefoot and walking in a construction area. You don’t want to step on any nails or get any splinters.

It’s how you walk in your garden. You don’t want to step on any vegetables.

walk carefully Ephesians 5:15 Walking circumspectly in this world is similar to these. We need to walk carefully and be attentive because there are pitfalls all around us.

Paul tells us next in Ephesians 5:15 how to walk circumspectly.

We walk circumspectly, according to Ephesians 5:15 by walking not as fools but as wise.

Paul does the same thing here with wisdom. He says to walk circumspectly, not asophoi but sophoi. Not unwisely, but wisely. Not as fools but as wise.

This is a great contrast in Scripture. Let me talk briefly about each. When we read Scripture—especially the book of Proverbs—about the character of a fool, we discover one overriding quality.

A fool is one who is primarily governed by his or her feelings. Why do they do what they do? Well, because they felt like it. Fools cannot give reasons for why they behave as they do.

Ephesians 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

How do we walk carefully? By being wise.

Why do we walk carefully? Because the days are evil.

walk wisely Ephesians 5:15-17 This verse is probably an allusion to Psalm 90:12 which is a prayer for God to help us number our days so that we may be wise. Paul says something similar here when he tells us that walking wisely allows us to redeem the time.

What does this mean? What is redeeming the time? The word means to make the most of, or to use time wisely. It also has the idea of urgency. There is an urgency in life. Time is important, and it should not be thrown lightly away.