Why walk wisely?
Eph 5:15-21 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Christians have a very realistic view of evil. We are not surprised when bad things happen, we know we are living in evil times. Why is that helpful? The Bible defines reality for us. If I tell you that you are about to go on a trip to a sandy beach… You have certain expectations and plans for your packing… It I had that the “beach” is the middle of Afghanistan… You realize that you are not in the Gulf of Mexico, but the battle lines of war. The Christians needs to know that we are in a battle. We have an enemy, Satan who is trying to kill us, sink us, and take us down. So we must walk wisely knowing that this is dangerous territory.

Last year, we took a dozen or so dads and sons out for a PAss Through the Fire coming of age ceremony. Part of the weekend was a paintball war. The dads against the sons. We dads were “Walking wisely” through the trees knowing dozens of kids were trying to shoot us. I found a piece of plywood (4 foot by 4 foot). I placed it in front of me so I could advance toward the flag without being hit. Bullets smacked up against the plywood as I slowly inched my way to the flag. I grabbed it, and began running toward the dad base. I couldn’t see, my mask was covered in paint, I was sweating and exhausted, so before returning to the base I stopped walking. THinking I was out of danger and the boys were no where near our flag, I tossed the flag to another dad to walk the flag back to our base for victory. I heard the “winning” horn go off a few moments later… and was SHOCKED to learn the boys had won. During our lazy walk back, they had got our flag and “run” it back to their base.

When Christians don’t realize we are in a battle, we walk when we should run. We wander into a battlefield foolishly unaware that we are about to be killed. We must Cater to the Greater SPiritual Battle. This is why Paul goes on to say…

Cater to Something Greater By rejecting: “Sooner or later.”

Eph 5:15-21 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
This phrase “redeeming the time” could mean “make the most of every opportunity.” There are two words in the Bible for time: Kronos and Kairos. The word used here is Karios. Why is that important? Kairos moments occur all the time. They occur when their are moments within the day, the hour, and the week. It’s a recognition that “this is important” “This is a moment” or “This should be a moment or opportunity to redeem.” The word is redeem is an active, action verb. We must do something here. We must see life a certain way. We must view the moment in a day.

• I told you that this passage was about how we cater to something greater by rejecting sooner or later. Here is the sooner or later. The fool thinks he will always have more “Kronos” (more seconds in the day, days in the week, and months in the year), but he won’t. You don’t get more time. You don’t find more time. You only spend your time. THe wise person doesn’t live under the illusion that there will be any more Kronos. He has what he has. He must not lie to himself and say, “SOoner or later” I will get to this. Or “sooner or later” I’ll have time. The wise person rejects that lie of sooner and later and instead caters to something greater… The wise says, I must redeem, or buy back this time by turning my Kronos into Kairos.
• I need to make this car ride a time to connect with my teens, not take up a business call
• I need to use this season of my marriage to it’s full by planning date nights.
• I need to see my relationships in my community and business as potential ways God will use me to share His story.
• I need to see patterns into the future, and make decisions now to prepare for the worst.
• I must capture my daughter’s heart now (whether she is 3, 13, or 30)
• I must instruct and overlap my schedule with my kids to be an influencer now. I must reject the lie that “I’m too busy” which is another flavor of “sooner or later” and shake myself into reality by saying, “This is not a priority, but it should be!”

That’s why Paul says that this process of Walking Wisely and Redemptively leads to God’s will.

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