“Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:16-17
October 20, 2022
Watching a baseball pitcher carefully calculate what kind of pitch to throw next, with so much at stake, is the stuff of watchful suspense. Of infinitely greater importance is how we, as Christians, go about making our day to day decisions. God has promised to guide us through life. The Lord is our Shepherd (Psa. 23:1) and has provided the means by which we may make the decisions that please Him. A critical part of this is that God guides us by the work of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to embrace biblical truth and in so doing shape our desires (“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” Rom. 8:14). We stand on the pitcher’s mound of life, having a God-ordained way of thinking, thus forming a biblical worldview. Human wisdom, the philosophies and values of this world system, are vaporous, limited, inadequate, short-sighted, and blind to spiritual realities. This world is on one big ego trip. For the children of God the Holy Spirit is our interpretive guide through the Scriptures, making it possible to have the best possible spiritual eyesight. This process of called illumination. We are not robots, simply downloading our minds with biblical knowledge. There is an ongoing work of the Spirit so that we might become more set upon God and the things that please Him (Psa. 37:4). Our thinking is transformed as the Spirit develops the mind of Christ within us. God can and does influence our thoughts. Praise God that the Holy Spirit is working within to change us so that we are no longer governed by our sin-influenced, self-centered standards, but by the Holy Spirit. H
A time to pray: “O Lord, ruler over all time and space, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Teach me to make the best use of time and bring into my life those who can help me with this.”