“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 (Read v. 15-21)
What does it mean to walk circumspectly? If you examine the word circumspectly, you’ll see that it means to walk, watching all around you – to walk carefully and with caution.
The Bible tells us as Christians who have come to know and believe that Christ died for our sins and rose again, winning for us forgiveness and life everlasting, that we should live our lives in this world with great care – walking circumspectly. We are not to walk as fools, unaware of the spiritual deception and deathtraps all around us, “but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
And, indeed, the days in this world are filled with evil as people around us continue on in rebellion against the LORD God who created and redeemed them. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we need to redeem the time, using it for service to the LORD God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.
Rather than being unwise, God calls upon us to be wise and to understand what God’s will for us is. Rather than becoming drunk with wine (or other worldly intoxicants), we are to be filled with and under the influence of God’s Holy Spirit, who raised us from spiritual death, created in our hearts faith in Christ Jesus and took up residence within us when we were baptized. We are to yield ourselves to the Spirit’s instruction and leading, “speaking to [ourselves] in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in [our] heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting [ourselves] to one another in the fear of God.”
O life-giving Holy Spirit, thank You for creating faith in our hearts and bringing us to know and trust in Christ Jesus as our Savior. Lead us to walk circumspectly and in wisdom. Fill our hearts and lives, teach us from Your Word, and lead us to redeem the time and live for the glory of our Savior. In His name we pray. Amen.