The Catalyst

Ephesians 5:^15-17 “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

A young man walks up to me asking for my help with getting a job. Naturally, the first question I ask is, what do you want to do? Then he responds, ‘Any job, Pastor, any job will do’.  There is a sense of responsibility in that, and it portrays that he is open to taking any job as long as it puts food on his table. From a responsibility standpoint, that is fantastic. However, from a purpose and destiny standpoint, you must have a clear vision of what you want to do with your life even if God needs to adjust it. God can work with someone who has a plan and adjust the plan than with someone who does not even have a plan at all. If God is to meet you like Saul of Tarsus on the road and change the course of your life, He will.

Check, everyone Jesus called had something they were doing. What they were doing was not what God wanted them to do, but they had something that they were intentional about. God always, always goes for intentional people. People who have a clear cut idea about what they want to do with their time and with their life. So, to light forward the first thing is to pay attention to how you conduct yourself. I must Pay Close Attention to how I conduct myself.

From our anchor scripture, the second thing is, I Must Discern What Is Right and Act Upon It. This is closely linked to the battle between what is easy and what is right. Most times, we want to do what is easy, but for us to light forward, we must discern what is right. And not just discern what is right, you must act upon it. God says to us, “…Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise…” Action is the catalyst for wisdom because there is no point knowing what to do and not doing it. In fact, that is the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is knowing what to do. But knowledge in itself is useless, the best it can do is to puff you up and make you arrogant. But wisdom is taking what you know and doing something with what you know. So, action is the catalyst for wisdom because you can know something and not do it. Imagine someone is driving at a hundred kilometres per hour then he or she sees a road sign that says, ‘slow down, sharp bend ahead’. That is knowledge; he or she has seen the sign and interpreted it correctly. He or she is knowledgeable, right? But if he or she maintains his or her speed at a hundred kilometres per hour, or even increases the speed, an accident is going to happen. That is a foolish person. A wise person sees the caution sign and acts accordingly. All the information that is available to you today, are you acting accordingly? Or are you, as the saying goes, burying your head like the ostrich, hoping that nothing is happening around you?

Prayer: Father, I declare that I will be careful to live my life wisely, not foolishly. Beyond that, I will also teach people to live wisely and act in wisdom, in Jesus Name. Amen!