A Journey Through Ephesians… 4:17-24

With the Lord’s authority I say this: live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:17-24

The next chapters of Ephesians are very instructive in nature. Remember, Paul is teaching the people of Ephesus this NEW way of living. So naturally they will need guidelines on how to relate, act, think and spend their time. And the beautiful thing for us today is NOTHING much has changed. I need the Holy Spirit to teach me how to relate, act, think and spend my time, as well.

Verse 17 should read as a warning. I shudder to think that I would EVER go back to living as the “Gentiles do.” But I believe this is tucked in here because IT IS VERY POSSIBLE to slip back into this way of life. I know in my earlier days of walking with Jesus, I was SOLD OUT for God – jamming to DC Talk, wearing my Faith Fashion, Christian fish on my bumper – and two Sunday’s later I would roll into the 11am service late and hung over from my Saturday night “Gentile slip up.” Now, I did have a sense of shame. I knew I was living a double life, but my mind still wandered back into to darkness every now and again.

But can I tell you what TERRIFIES ME THE MOST about this passage? You see, I am betting you and I are a LOT alike. I can’t imagine many people reading this blog are struggling to stop practicing every kind of impurity. But the red flag we need to be on the lookout for is found in verse 18.

“They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”

Hardening: the covering with a callus, , a dulled mind, stubborn

I was JUST walking with a friend yesterday who is going through a very hard time. She is wrestling with God, terribly upset with other believers and feels as if she is being treated unfairly within the Church. It is painful to watch. And I noticed that every bit of encouragement I tried to offer bounced right back to me. Every morsel of Truth, every edifying statement, every suggestion for reconsideration – all came back to me with a bit of disdain.

And before I knew it these words came out of my mouth “I want to encourage you…. do not let your heart become hardened during this season of trial. Stay rooted in God’s love. The enemy intends this for evil. And I feel that if he can get your heart hardened, then his job just gets easier.”

Look at the similarities between Ephesians 4:18 and Hebrews 3:12-15….

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.  For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says:  “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled…”

We must warn each other every day NOT to hardened our hearts?!

I think this is a big deal.

Why? Why would Paul warn against this? Why would the author of Hebrews warn against this hardening of heart?

Look at the promise that follows “If we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”

ALL that belongs to Christ is ours…. stay faithful to the END trusting in GOD.

Y’all believe me, I know that Trusting in God is the path of MOST resistance. A calloused heart is easy.

Paul goes on to give a little instruction on HOW to avoid a hard heart – let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. The greek translates this word “renew” as “taking on a new mind.” This is an abstract concept, and we will go deeper into HOW we renew our minds in our next post, so….

…FOR TODAY, I encourage you, get God’s mind about any situation of which you might harden your heart. What would GOD have you think about the friend who has hurt you? What would GOD have you think about your spouse or your difficult marriage? What would GOD have you think about your resistant teenager? What would GOD have you think about the struggle you face today?

The enemy wants your heart calloused. WHY? With a calloused heart you can’t FEEL God’s love for them. And worse you can’t FEEL God’s love for you. This is the nature of a callous, right? To numb feeling? To protect what is beneath? A harden heart is a means of self protection.

God is your protector, friend. You don’t have to self protect.

A hard heart is dangerous territory …. So, much like Paul, I encourage you too…. “Don’t close your heart against Him.”

And by doing so, share in all that belongs to Christ. Hebrews 3:14