Ephesians 6: 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. (NIV)
These passages in Ephesians are some of my favorite in all of scripture. Chapter 5 tells us to be imitators of God and to avoid sexual immorality and all other kinds of sin. It also defines how spouses are to treat each other: husbands are to love their wives like Christ loves the church and wives are to submit to their husbands. There must be hundreds of books written about this chapter alone as people grapple with just exactly what this means and how to do it.
Often we overly complicate rather simple things in scripture and miss the true message. Truly learning how to agape, phileo, and eros my wife is a life-long task that I am a very long way from mastering. Submitting in every sense of the word is an anathema (look it up!) to almost every wife I've ever met, yet scripture isn't vague here. It is clear that husbands are to love and wives are to submit. The thing I like most about this section of scripture isn't that I find it easy, but that scripture gives me the how. In order for me to love Reja like Christ loves the church, I must put on the full armor of God daily.
I confess that I've been lazy for most of my life about the command to daily put on the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the "shoes" of gospel message that provides us with readiness (for what?), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation (daily! - another interesting command to contemplate...), and finally our only offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit - scripture. It goes on to urge us to pray daily. So why does scripture go from commanding the impossible (love and submission) to arming us for battle? Because at least for this 1 person out of about 6 billion currently living, I struggle. I battle. I'm at war with my sin nature and when I don't take time each day to arm myself, I fail miserably. When I fail, Satan wins. He takes over my witness, my relationships, my service, and my kingdom effectiveness.
So, this is why I write these every day. I don't do this because I know you need it. You do, but that's not my primary reason for writing. I write these because for years I've been lazy about DAILY putting on my armor. Therefore my relationship with my wife isn't what it should be and its my fault. My relationships with others aren't what they should be and its my fault. My witness to and about Christ isn't what it should be and its my fault. My, well you get the picture. Scripture doesn't give us the opportunity to blame others for our sins. They are our fault. Yet scripture does provide us with the key to overcoming sin. It begins with suiting up for battle, but doesn't end there. Once suited for battle we are to be in constant prayer.
How is your battle going? Have you suited up today or are you accepting less than what God intended for you by being lazy? Carpe Diem! Seize today not with your own skills and talents, but with the full armor of God. THEN we are prepared to SERVE wholeheartedly.
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