Sabbath: Living Wisely
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Ephesians 5:1-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-11; Revelation 16:1-16; Colossians 4:5; Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 23:29-35; Acts 16:25.
Memory Text: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-17, ESV).
Not long ago a crystal jug was placed on auction in the United Kingdom. The auctioneers described it as a “nineteenth-century French, claret jug,” estimating its worth at US$200. Two perceptive bidders recognized the jug as an extremely rare, Islamic ewer. Its true, appraised worth? £5 million (about US$6.5 million). What allowed that bidder to walk away with such a bargain? The bidder knew something that the auctioneer did not: the true value of the jug.
In Ephesians 5:1-20, Paul contrasts what pagans and believers valued. Pagans valued a racy story (Ephesians 5:4-5), a drunken party (), and debauched sex (Ephesians 5:3, Ephesians 5:5-6) as the great treasures of life. Believers, though, know an ultimate day of appraisal is coming, when the true value of all things will become apparent (, Ephesians 5:6). Instead of placing their bid on partying and drunkenness, they treasure, among other things, “all that is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:9, ESV) in Christ. Paul, thus, urges them to snap up the bargains found in Christ as they live (as we all do) on the threshold of eternity (Ephesians 5:15-17).
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 26.
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Here is the Ashton "modern" paraphrase for this week's scripture - Eph 5:1-20
I hope that I inspire some of you to make your own paraphrase.
...and if you would like a few minutes of Sabbath viewing my July collection of bird photographs is available by clicking the link below:
July 2023 Birds
Thank you Maurice for your very down-to-earth translations. The plain talking
really helps me.
Also I am thankful for your talent in capturing God's winged creatures with your
cameras
Leilani in Phoenix AZ
Thank you Maurice for the well articulated insights of Ephesians 5:1-20 , a well guiding summary of what Paul wants us to learn from the current lesson "Living wisely".
Thank you this has help me greatly.
Glad it helped you David
Cheers
Maurice
Very good paraphrase of Ephesians 5:1-20. I also enjoyed your ornithology show, when pushing my 27inch display up to 3840x2160 resolution--full screen. How beautiful. Your sharp pictures allow me to have a little taste of the glories in heaven prepared for us. Our vision will be so sharp to enjoy what is instore for us, we will spend a thousand years in amazement.
Let all that is beautiful in our earthly home remind us of the crystal river and green fields, the waving trees and the living fountains, the shining city and the white robed singers, of our heavenly home--that world of beauty which no artist can picture, and no mortal tongue describe. Let your imagination picture the home of the saved and remember that it will be more glorious than your brightest imagination can portray. Heaven 133.3
Your bird photos help with that imagination. When I share these pictures, I am honored to be able to share some of the demographics of the man who took these pictures. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thank you, John.
Cheers Maurice
Sabbath day blessings fellow pilgrims, I got up early and decided to look into the Sabbath school lesson. Looking at the memory text I decided to read Eph 5:1-20 from the Message Bible 9not copycatting Maurice).
Ephesians 5:1–20
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language
Wake Up from Your Sleep
1–2 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.
3–4 Don’t allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.
5 You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God.
6–7 Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that.
8–10 You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So, no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.
11–16 Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.
Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins.
Christ will show you the light!
So, watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
17 Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.
18–20 Don’t drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.
Eph.5:8-10 – ‘Walk in Light’ - … Walk as children of light, (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” - James 1:17.
Eph.5:15-18 – ‘Walk in Wisdom’ - ”See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ... be filled with the Spirit.”
For the believer, the above described conduct is only possible as he ‘lives in Christ’. I think it to be extremely important to fully understand what this means. To live in Him - to have life - to be alive, is only possible in and by His Spirit!
This Spirit by which we conduct our ‘does’ and ‘donts’ in life is the selfsame Spirit which Jesus Christ accepted and which filled Him. We do not have life by the works of the flesh, no matter the quality of its manifestation; no matter how 'good' we are.
We need to understand that only in and by Him do we have Life - 1 John5:11-13; v.13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Living wisely! What challenge! It is possible to 'translate' this to a variety of meanings. Not so good or bad; balance between good and evil, etc. But to live wisely, according to the Word, is to learn the will of Love. Not worldly love, but heavenly Love, the 'real stuff,' not the fake one.