Walking in Wisdom

Dr Alfonse Javed
Apr 27
9 min read

Be watchful of your priorities, pursuits, and the purpose of life. Give God your first fruits, not the leftovers.

Ephesians 5:15-21 - 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Do you walk in wisdom? I ask that because Ephesians 5:15 cautions us to walk carefully in wisdom. One of my daughters gets hurt all the time because she walks into things even when we caution her to be careful.

Spiritually, we get hurt when we don’t heed the caution in the Bible to be careful how we walk, which means how we live.

The problem is that many Christians don’t walk in wisdom. They need to know that foolishly living outside the will of God hinders their maturity and ability to multiply.

Paul has invested much of his time in the second half of the letter to the Ephesians teaching how to walk worthy of our calling.

In Ephesians 4:1-2, he urged us to “walk…with all humility and gentleness, with patience.”
In Ephesians 4:17, the command is to “…no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.”
In Ephesians 5:2, he wrote, “walk in love.”
In Ephesians 5:8, he tells us to “…walk as children of light.”
And in Ephesians 5:15, he said, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.”

So, walking in wisdom is the conclusion of a worthy walk to mature and multiply.

The big idea is that if the objective of our life is to mature and multiply, then we must walk in wisdom in this fallen world that is watching us closely. We walk in wisdom by being watchful of your priorities, pursuits, and purpose.

Be Watchful of Your Priorities (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” We all have priorities, and those priorities determine how we spend each hour of our lives. If our priority is our faith in Christ, then nothing can hinder our maturity or multiplication.

The Command

The phrase “Look carefully then” in Greek is blepete oun akribos. Blepete means to take heed or be watchful. Oun is a conjunction that also means therefore. If we connect the “therefore” to the immediate context in verses 7-14, then walking in wisdom is to be light to the world so that the world may know the light and become light itself. That is the idea of multiplication.

God’s plan to save us had a built-in method to save the world through our witness. That is why how we walk matters. It is no accident that the last command that Jesus gave in Matthew 28:19-21 was to multiply by making disciples. Therefore, the word akribos translated here as “carefully” is important. The sense of the word is doing something with attention to detail; it involves precision and accuracy.

So, the command is to be watchful of how accurately we walk in the context of being light to the world, a fallen yet watching world, so they may come to Jesus. Believers cannot wander in the wilderness of life; rather, they have a precise path to walk on, and this path is narrow, but it leads to life. This command comes with a caution.

The Contrast

The second half of Ephesian 5:15 says, “not as unwise but as wise.” In Greek, wise is sophoi and unwise is asophoi which can be translated as foolish or unskilled. The caution in the command is that if we are foolish, we may end up on a path that seems broad and easy, but it will certainly lead to destruction.

Jesus, in Matthew 7:13-14, said, “13 Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” This why we need to walk in wisdom.

Interestingly, in verse 15, Paul does not use the Greek understanding of wisdom, which was intellectual ability; he uses the Hebrew understanding. To Jews, wisdom was related to practical life principles in God’s Word and those who did not follow those principles were foolish.

We can see the contrast between the wise and the fool in the Bible as a means to correct how people lived and made daily decisions that affect their community and God’s vision for nations. Proverbs 14:16 says, “One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless.”

The Constraint

Time is the constraint to walk wisely. Ephesians 5:16 reads, “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Time is what we don’t have to sit around and do nothing and continue on the path that leads to destruction.

With the limited time we have, we must use it wisely. Investing our time, talent, and treasure in what is eternal as opposed to fleeting.

Interestingly, the Greek word for time here is not chronos, that is, linear time as in minutes, hours, months, and years. Rather, the word is kairos, a divinely measured or a fixed time and season of opportunity when God’s purposes are brought to fruition. It is a limited period in which God’s Spirit opens an opportunity for us to act and interact with God’s predetermined plan for us. If we don’t seize the kairos moment that God entrusted to us, regret will follow for the rest of our lives.

Back in New York, I conducted a research study to see what hinders believers from wisely investing their time, talent, and treasures. What I found was that the problem is not willingness. The majority of participants indicated that they are too busy. First, my assumption was they didn’t have time, but then I realized it is not the time rather their inability to prioritize life in a manner that Jesus comes first every time in everything every day.

Application

Walk in wisdom and get your priorities aligned with God’s because whatever is our priority gets the best of our time, talent, and treasures.

Be Watchful of your Pursuits (Ephesians 5:17-18)

Our priorities are interconnected with our pursuits in life. Unwise priorities lead to foolish pursuits, but wise priorities lead to godly pursuits. Ephesians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” The verse does not say to seek God’s will; it says understand it because God’s will is already revealed in God’s Word.

The foolishness is in devoting most of our time, talent, and treasures to the world rather than the Word. Therefore, rather than giving God the first fruits of everything, we tend to give God the leftovers and not the good ones, but the discarded rotten no-good leftovers.

So, either we feel too tired to open the Bible, spend time in prayer, attend small groups, engage in evangelism and missions during the week, or we do not even come to church on Sunday, and if we do come, we come late, tired, and exhausted. Now I am not accusing anyone of anything, I am part of the problem, too. I take every appointment I possibly can, leaving no room for Sabbath, and then I get frustrated when I do not have more time.

My point is that sometimes our good pursuits can be ungodly and in opposition to the will of the Lord. If you are wondering what God’s will is for you, I tell you that it is not hidden; just open up the Word— that is where it is revealed.

God’s will in the context of our text has been for us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling to salvation and sanctification and being filled with the Holy Spirit. However, when our pursuits are worldly, they intoxicate us to the point that we will walk in a foolish manner, yet we will convince ourselves that we are okay. That’s how drunk drivers kill others and themselves because their perception of reality changes.

In Ephesians 5:18 Paul, uses drunkenness to illustrate this point, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.” The sin is in being drunk and not in drinking; however, personally, I simply do not find any good reason that anyone should drink. I say that because I have seen the damage it does to individuals and families.

I think Paul uses the illustration of drunkenness to contrast the pursuit of a drunk person with one filled with the Spirit. As drunkards are controlled by the destructive power of alcohol, people filled by the Spirit are controlled by the Holy Spirit’s power. As the drunkards live in a different reality, people filled by the Spirit have a different reality, too.

By the way, being filled with the Spirit is not the same as being in-dwelt by (Romans 8:9), baptized by (1 Corinthians 12:13), or sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). All of that happens instantly when we accept Jesus because that guarantees our salvation. However, being filled with the Spirit brings transformation in our lives.

I read a study that said only 36% of churchgoers believe they experience the Holy Spirit’s presence daily and nearly 20% say they never do. The reason why so many people don’t experience the power of the Spirit or the transformation He brings because they accepted Jesus but never allowed the Spirit to control their lives fully.

Application

Allow the Holy Spirit to take control of you, not just in some areas of life, but in all areas. Then your priorities will change, and your pursuits will follow.

Be Watchful of Your Purpose Ephesians 5:19-21)

The purpose of our life changes our priorities in life to pursue different goals. If the purpose of our life is to pursue Jesus, then filled by the Holy Spirit, we will live a different life with different priorities than the world around us.

The purpose of the Christian life, that is, the walk Paul has been talking about this whole time, will be evident in our relationship with others.

First, it would be evident in how we greet others. Ephesians 5:19 says, “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” So, we will worship God not just on Sunday but every day, every time we meet with other believers. If your family is a believing family, the purpose of your family would be worshiping God all the time. It is the reality of heaven that we will experience on earth.

Let me illustrate this with something that I didn’t notice until I came to this church. Whenever Asian Indian brothers and sisters greet me, they start with, “Praise the Lord, Pastor.” That is the greeting.

Second, it would be evident in times of trials. Ephesians 5:20 says, “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In good and bad times, we will thank God in the name of our Lord Jesus.

Third, it would be evident in how we will treat other believers. Ephesians 5:21 says, “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Next time, we will come back to verse 21 to see how this is also the basis for a good marriage and family life.

Application

Rather than spending time talking about culture and politics or other frivolous things, worship God, and encourage each other with prayers and praise.

Closing

If you are a parent, I want you to imagine that your children are so busy that they didn’t have any time for you. If you are a child, I want you to imagine that your dad or mom were so busy that they didn’t have any time for you. Imagine how you would feel. This is how God feels when our priorities, pursuits, and the purpose of life are not aligned with Him.

Appeal

Be watchful of your priorities, pursuits, and the purpose of life. Don’t give God the leftovers. He deserves your very best, whether time, talent, or treasure. Don’t walk outside the will of God; rather, being filled with the Holy Spirit, walk in wisdom to mature and multiply.

Action Step

Take a piece of paper and record your time, hour by hour, to see how much time you really give to Jesus. Even by Old Testament standards, we should give 10% of everything to God. Do you give 10% of your time, talent, or treasure? If you take the example of time, this means in a day, we should give 2 hours and 24 minutes to God.

Study Questions

What does Ephesians 5:15-16 mean? How can we make the best use of our time?
How do we understand God’s will (Ephesians 5:17)? What does it involve (Ephesians 5:18-21)?
What does being filled with the Spirit mean? How does it differ from being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, baptized by the Holy Spirit, and sealed by the Holy Spirit?

Deeper Study Questions

What things keep you from budgeting your time wisely?
What might God be asking you to surrender to Him in order to use your time more wisely and more aligned with His will? Is there something you can change this week? Today?
How could a mentor help you spend time more wisely?