Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,

Ephesians 5: 15-18

A psychiatrist friend once commented on a medication I sold as “safe, well-tolerated (meaning that it had a favorable side effect profile). He said it had everything you would want from a pharmaceutical product except efficacy- it didn’t work.” Those are not exactly the words I wanted to hear, but I have given his comments some thought over the years.

Today I wondered how that “profile” might match up with my life as a follower of Christ. Safe, well-tolerated, and ineffective? I think most of us would cringe at the thought of living a life where we do not make the most of every opportunity and that is the point of Paul’s appeal to the Ephesians. Instead of living as unwise or foolish, we are to be wise and understand the importance of living a life that pleases God.

Paul continues to make a strong contrast between wise and unwise choices in the final verse above. Paul makes a clear distinction between he negative impact of being drunk – today we would call it “under the influence.” Instead we are to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Gordon Fee refers to Ephesians 5:18 as “the ultimate imperative in the Pauline corpus – God’s people so filled by/with the Spirit’s own Presence that they come to know God in all His fullness and reflect the way they live in relationship to one another and God Himself.”

And so, Paul makes a clear choice that applies to our lives today and he encourages us to be people who are under the influence of God’s Holy Spirit. Tomorrow, we’ll consider what that kind of life looks like today.