Opportunities!
2021 Summer Series / Ephesians 5:15–20
• “Screen Time.” App to track how much time you spend on on your smartphone .
• The average time spent staring at our phones is 4-5 hours/day.
• there’s a new metric that measures our “check-ins.” How often we just pick up the phone to check notifications, the time, the weather a sports score.
• It’s over 200x/day on average.
• The acronym to describe the reason for all this FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out.
• Before we get too smug, it’s not just our phones that siphon our time away.
• Could be a tv show, video game, really, anything.
• Whatever what occupies our attention is taking our time.
• Time is always on our minds. We have somewhere to be, something to do, etc. that is marked by time. Very few moments in the modern have the luxury of being “off the clock.”
• But time, in and of itself, isn’t the issue. We all have exactly the same amount of precious time.
• Intuitively, we know that it is what we do with the time that makes a difference.
• We need wisdom to make the most of time. To take advantage of the opportunities we have.
Proverbs 16:16 NLT
16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver!
• As Paul continues to guide the Ephesian church in what it means to imitate God, he turns his attention to the all-important concept of using time wisely.
Understanding Our Times
Ephesians 5:16 NLT
16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
• NLT properly interprets “making the most of the time” as “opportunity.”
• We have two words in Greek translated “time.” Chronos = measuring time in seconds, minutes, etc. Kairos = “the right time, the appropriate time.” It’s meant to describe a season, an era, an understanding of the cultural moment.
• Paul views his (or our) “time” an opportunity. In Colossians Paul links our “time” to the circumstances of the people around us.
Colossians 4:5 NLT
5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity.
• The key to redeeming the time and making the most of our opportunities is to practice wisdom.
• Wisdom (skillful application of Godly knowledge and experience) begins with knowing what God has revealed.
• The question is what lens we’re using to view the times we live in.
• What’s your main source of information about your world?
• Facebook?
• A specific news outlet?
• Maybe nothing?
• It’s difficult to know how to act in a godly way when we don’t have good information about the world around us.
• But it’s not just knowing multiple viewpoints of the evening news. It’s the filter that’s on the lens we see through.
• That filter (worldview) is God’s revelation and will.
Knowing God’s Will
• Our choices reflect our understanding of the times we live in.
• Wisdom means knowing how to apply godly direction and knowledge effectively in those choices.
• NLT uses the word “thoughtless” to describe foolishness. Foolishness in the bible describes someone who is more likely to say, “ready! Fire! Aim!”
Ephesians 5:17 NLT
17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
• Thoughtless behaviors are unwise.
Romans 12:2 NLT
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
• Understanding the times we live in and acting wisely means knowing what God sets as priorities and then applying them skillfully.
• How do we learn to do that? I’m not much good at it on my own.
Accepting Good Guidance
• Paul contrasts two potential influences in our lives.
Ephesians 5:18 NLT
18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
• The opportunities we discover when alcohol or other substances are in control are of the “hold my beer while I do somethin’ stupid.”
• It’s not just alcohol. That was, apparently, a serious problem in their time just as it is now. Substances may not distract you or own you. It’s a good question to ask what potentially does claim ownership over your life.
• That’s not what Paul is talking about here.
• Wisdom to understand the times and to take advantage of the opportunity in them requires guidance, teaching.
Galatians 5:16 NLT
16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
• The prompting and direction of the Spirit will always guide you toward the truth, reality.
