Ephesians 5:17 – NKJV – Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
In this verse of Ephesians, the apostle Paul is exhorting believers not to be unwise, but to understand what the will of the Lord is. In the Amplified Classic version of this verse, it reads not to be “vague, thoughtless and foolish”, but “understanding and firmly grasping” what the will of the Lord is.
It’s clear throughout Scripture that one of the most important things that we can come into in our relationship with the Lord is understanding the importance of knowing and following His will. That means aligning our lives to God’s ways and a lifestyle that would be pleasing to Him; and by Scripture, God makes it clear He wants us to “firmly grasp” knowing it. But what exactly does that mean and how do we learn of God’s will?
The number one way that we learn about God’s will is through His Word. From Genesis to Revelations, the will of God is revealed. Scripture says this, in the Amplified Classic Bible:
Psalms 119:130 – Amplified Classic Bible – The entrance and unfolding of Your words give light; their unfolding gives understanding (discernment and comprehension) to the simple.
The Psalmist here expresses how God’s Word gives us light, understanding, discernment and comprehension. But understanding of what? Of God’s will and God’s ways. God’s ways are so much higher than our ways and His thoughts much higher than our thoughts. He made that clearly known in Isaiah 55:8-9. Therefore we must begin to align our way of thinking to how He thinks and views the world around us. And the Bible gives us the perfect example of how to start.
Romans 12:2 – NIV – Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
As much as we are to love those who are around us with the love of Christ, we do have to be careful that we are not conforming to the pattern of this world. In other words, Paul was saying to be careful (as another translation says) not to be “molded” after the fashion of this world. Does this mean that we are to turn our noses up to non-believers and those who we have disagreements with? Not at all. It means that as Christians we are not to be following the unbelieving world’s values, beliefs, and conduct that is contrary to the Word of God. This does not mean that we have to become a hermit or an escapist, learning how to avoid society by living out in the wilds somewhere. Jesus made it clear that we are to be in the world, but not part of it (John 17:14-15). Instead, Scripture goes on to say that we are to be transformed by renewing our minds. Our minds are transformed through study and meditation of God’s Word under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and as we do, our thinking will be transformed and renewed. Then it says that we will be able to test and approve what God’s will is.
With our minds renewed through the Word, we will now have the capacity to discern what God’s will is and be able to know the things that please Him and those things that do not. The greatest example of this was demonstrated by our Lord, Jesus Christ while being tempted by the devil. Scripture puts it like this:
Matthew 4:1-11 – NKJV – Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’and,‘In their hands they shall bear you up,Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Each time the devil tried to tempt Jesus, notice that His response was always “it is written”. Jesus knew that these temptations the enemy threw at Him was an attempt to get Him to deviate from God’s purpose. But He was completely unmoved and responded to what He knew was the written will of God, which is the Holy Scriptures.
My encouragement is to let this be an example of how we respond to any given situation. Though our lives as disciples of the Lord is a lifelong process of growth, as we are transformed and as our minds are renewed we get better at discerning God’s will because we learn that God’s will is within the pages of God’s Word.
God Bless!
