Ephesians 5:17 Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants. (The Message Bible)
Several years ago there was a campaign around the letters WWJD that stood for “What Would Jesus Do?” People did take offs, some in support of the idea and some making fun of it. Most memorable for me was “What Would Jesus Drive?” Whatever you think of this approach, most everybody who considers themselves to be Christian prays at one time or another the Lord’s Prayer with the entreaty “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” For those not to be empty words we have to devote some time and energy asking what God’s will is in whatever situation we may find ourselves. If we don’t, we are probably living carelessly, unthinkingly. My experience with people leads me to believe that there are many folks, even leaders in congregations, who really don’t believe we can know what God wants, that God has pretty much left us here to figure things out on our own, that we are the decision makers and God will just have to settle for what we decide. I disagree. Certainly there are times when understanding God can be difficult, even mysterious, but 90% (95? 99?) of the time, if we are keeping a discipline of reading the scriptures and praying for God’s will to be done, I think we do have a pretty good grasp on what God would want in a given situation. Doing it may be another story but we know deep in our hearts what pleases God. This week how will you guard against living carelessly, unthinkingly? How will you understand what the Master wants?
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 