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Walking Circumspectly
Ephesians 5:15
"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but
as wise, (16) Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
If every person were to follow that admonition
there would no opportunity
for war. There would not be neighbor turning against neighbor. There
would not even be church against church. ... Bold concept? You bet,
but not new. There was a time when man and beast walked and talked
together; When harmony in all things was right and good; When man
walked in the garden with the Lord and He taught them the things they
needed to know. During that time no one would have thought about
trying to get the upper hand over the other. The Lord had given the
man the task of husbandry and all the animals went along with the
idea because God had declared it. The wife was a helpmeet equal to
the task and willing to be involved. Peace, as only God can give,
was abroad on the land. There was no want.
Suddenly the days became evil, for whatever the
reason. Man no longer was satisfied with his lot in life. The wife desired
more and even the animals turned on each other. There was a possibility
that man could elevate himself to the position near to, or on an equal
footing with God. When this concept took over man's thinking, man found
himself on the outside and stepping on the lives of his friends to eat
and to clothe himself and his wife. Had both of them refused to listen to
the serpent, and instead chose to look around to see what those actions
would set into motion, the days would not have become evil and the Lord's
Peace would have continued.
Well, let's just blame it all on ol' Adam and
Eve. Then we can, with somewhat less than a clear conscience, use
whomever we want, for whatever the purpose with none of the guilt. Whoa,
there's a lot we can say for the fall of man to lay at the foot of Adam
and Eve. However...
Common sense tells us that everything we do today
can't be laid there. We must accept the responsibility for
our own actions, whether good or bad. Sin entered the world by one man,
Romans 5:12,
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world . . .".
So sin did come by Adam, but we cannot neglect
I John 1:8
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
Therefore, we dare not say we are not responsible. Consider also
I John 1:10,
"If we say that we have not sinned, we make
him a liar, and his word is not in us." We can blame whomever
we want, so long as we realize that the ultimate responsibility lies
in each one of us.
So, where does all this place us in the realm of
our daily walk? Are we going to continue as before? Or are we going to
change our direction of movement so as to not cause a brother or sister to
stumble or fall? In other words are we going to start to walk more
circumspectly? And by starting, continue to improve our walk until we are
more like Jesus?
Romans 5:15 "But not as the offense, so also
[is] the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much
more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one
man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Get this one thought—the key word is
all and you are included in that word.
RECOMMENDED FOR FURTHER READING:
This Reference Paper
Understanding Positional Sanctification vs
Progressive Sanctification
And
A Short Paper on understanding Problem Solving
All Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible
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