God's Will, Part 2

So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:17). 

Wow, that could come across as being a little harsh right?  The Bible says if you do not know the will of the Lord, you are foolish.  Well with that in mind, it must be pretty important for us to know what the will of the Lord is.  If it is that important, God must want us to know what it is.  He would not command us to "not be foolish" if it wasn't possible.  If you want to know God's will, the first step is to be saved (as covered in part 1), the second step, as we shall see in the very next verse from the one mentioned above, is to be Spirit-filled. 

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, (Ephesians 5:18) 

Many Christians want to know why God hasn't revealed who they are supposed to marry or what house they are supposed to buy, etc. but why should God show a person something if they are not even fulfilling what God has already clearly stated as His will?  Some Christians think they do not have the Holy Spirit, but the Bible says But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him (Romans 8:9).  The Holy Spirit is a person, He lives within you (1 Corinthians 6:19). 

We are not to be under the control of wine, but under the control of the Spirit.  One might ask, what does a Spirit filled life look like?  How do I live like that?  Continuing down the line in Ephesians 5:19-33, & Ephesians 6 we are shown what that looks like.  It's "speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" and it's wives submitting, husbands loving their wives, fathers not provoking their children to wrath, children obeying their parents, that is how Spirit-filled people are to live. 

Colossians 3 has the same list except instead of linking it to living in the Spirit it's linked to letting "the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom" (Colossians 3:16).  Being Spirit filled and the word of Christ dwelling in you are the same thing!  The Spirit-filled life is being saturated in the things of Christ with His word.  How do you do that?  Read His word everyday!  The more you read the Bible, the book that is about God, the more it will saturate your mind and life.  So in our examinations of the scriptures we have seen that it is God's will for us to be saved and to be Spirit-filled.