Thursday, February 20, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Ephesians 5
Key Verse
Ephesians 5:17 — “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”
Devotional Thought
Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, a congregation he knows well, having spent three years teaching there in the shadow of the great temple of Artemis. Now, from a Roman prison, he calls these believers to a life that matches their calling. The chapter opens with a tender command: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.” The Greek word behind “followers” carries the idea of imitation—mimicking God the way a child mimics a parent. Paul is not asking for mere rule-keeping but for family resemblance. The Ephesians once walked in darkness, tangled in the very sins Paul lists—fornication, covetousness, foolish talking. But now they are “light in the Lord,” and light does not negotiate with darkness; it exposes it.
Paul then turns to the most ordinary arena of life: the home. Wives and husbands, submission and sacrificial love. These instructions were countercultural in a world where husbands held near-absolute authority. Paul elevates marriage by making it a living parable of Christ and the church. Christ loved the church and “gave himself for it,” washing it “with the washing of water by the word.” That is the pattern for every husband. And the church’s glad submission to Christ is the pattern for every wife. This is no mere domestic advice; it is theology enacted at the kitchen table.
We read this in late February, when winter still grips the ground and the days feel long. It is a season when homes can grow tense, when the ordinary routines of marriage and family wear thin. Paul’s words meet us there. “Redeeming the time,” he writes, “because the days are evil.” Time is not to be merely endured but bought back, rescued for God’s purposes. The Spirit-filled life shows itself in psalms sung at the sink, thanks given over burnt toast, and spouses who choose love when affection feels distant.
Notice the mystery Paul names in verse 32: marriage points beyond itself. Every faithful husband, every reverent wife, every quiet act of self-giving love in a home is a small sermon about Christ. The world is watching. Our homes are meant to be lampstands, not hiding places. So walk circumspectly. Be filled with the Spirit. Awake, you who sleep, and Christ shall give you light.
Reflection
- Where in your daily life—your home, your work, your habits—are you still walking as a child of darkness rather than a child of light, and what would it look like this week to “redeem the time” there?
- Paul says Christ gave Himself for the church to make it “without spot, or wrinkle.” How does your love for the people closest to you reflect, or fail to reflect, that self-giving, sanctifying love?
Prayer
Father, we thank You that while we were darkness, You made us light in the Lord. Forgive us for the vain words, the foolish talk, and the secret sins we have entertained. Teach us to walk circumspectly, redeeming these evil days for Your glory. Fill us with Your Spirit, that our homes might echo with psalms and thanksgiving rather than complaint. Lord Jesus, You loved the church and gave Yourself for it; shape our marriages and friendships after that pattern. Wash us by Your word, remove every spot and wrinkle, and present us holy before You. Awake our sleeping hearts, and give us light. In Your name we pray. Amen.