Don't Be Foolish

Don’t Be Foolish – Ephesians 5: 15 - 20

Intro: I’m not real fond of country music. Perhaps it’s because my dad and his brothers had a country band that practiced at our house --- The one thing I do like about country music are the titles for the songs. Here are a few I remember reading in a sermon by David Hill on Sermon Central entitled, "How To Live Until I Die":

His Teeth Was Stained, But His Heart Was Pure

How Can I Miss You If You Won’t Go Away?

I Still Miss You, Baby, But My Aim’s Getting’ Better

Mama Get A Hammer. There’s A Fly On Papa’s Head

You’re The Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly.

My favorite is . . . “I Just Want To Live Until I Die”

I. Verse 15 - Be very careful, then, how you live---not as unwise but as wise. I think it isn’t THAT you live . . . It’s HOW you live.

A. Some folks save it, others make it, most waste it, several kill it and a few actually are on it. Many try to manage it and end up losing it. ---- TIME!

B. TODAY IS THE YESTERDAY YOU’LL REMENISCE ABOUT TOMORROW. --- Ben Franklin once said, “Don’t waste time, it’s the stuff of which life is made.

C. I ask you, is there a difference between existing and living? I think Paul would agree there is a big difference.

II. Verse 16 – making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

A. The Greek word Paul uses here for “make the most of” is exagorazo which means to purchase or to “buy back” --- that is, “redeem” --- it is a market term which means “to buy out” or “to purchase completely.”

B. The word Paul uses with exagorazo is kairos, “time.” It can refer to a particular time, a favorable time, or even the time of crisis in an “end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it” sense.

C. So – REDEEMING THE TIME – implies making the most of every opportunity because as Paul says, “THE DAYS ARE EVIL.” --- We must seize every opportunity so our “evil” society can be redeemed, saved. That should be our reason for living instead of just existing according to Paul.

III. Verse 17 – “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”

A. Too often we find ourselves praying for god to bless what we are doing when we should be praying for God to lead us to what God is doing.

B. Church people have deluded themselves for years believing that church is about us; what WE want and what WE like, what makes US happy and comfortable. --- Church isn’t about US or ME. Church is taking the message of Christ Jesus into our community and LIVE instead of EXIST.

C. It is time to stop think about ME and US and start thinking about OTHERS. If we do not seek the will of the Lord, we are foolishly existing until we die.

Conclu: DON’T BE FOOLISH! --- Kathy and Larry Miller wrote about Patrick Morely in a book titled “God’s Vitamin”C” For The Spirit (Starburst Publishers, 1996, pg. 23). Morely was a successful businessman who changed his life and the direction it was taking by asking “who’s going to be crying at my funeral?” --- The answer to that question reveals to us the true will of God for our lives.