Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people).
Ephesians 5:15 (AMPC)
To be careful means to give watchful attention to, to supervise and to be responsible for. Are you supervising yourself? If you don’t, you will make many foolish mistakes in life. In an effort to help you be more careful about how you live, let me ask you some questions:
What is your lifestyle, and would Jesus approve of it?
What are your habits, good and bad?
Do you have a purpose?
Are you living your life “on purpose” each day?
Do you have a plan?
Are you able to follow through with your plans?
How often do you fail to accomplish your daily goals?
Are you leaving a legacy?
What are you accomplishing in life?
These are not intended to sound like an interrogation, but are offered simply to get you thinking.
To be careful really means to be wise, to choose to do now what you will be happy with later. The Greek word that we now translate as “be careful” was originally translated, “walk circumspectly.” That word means to look all around, like one who is walking in a very dangerous place. This person as he walks is constantly observing where he should put his feet next. Each decision we make represents a step that we take in our walk with God, and we should make them very carefully, considering what the outcome may be.
Be an investor in life, not a gambler! Make right choices and be assured of eventually getting a right result—don’t make wrong choices and gamble that you might get by with it. Most people who have a serious gambling habit may gamble and occasionally win, but in the end most of them lose everything.
As you read this book, if you are convicted of areas in your life where you know you need to make a change, I urge you not to put it off. Take action now, because if you don’t, nothing will change!
We are building a life and we want to be cautious so that in the end, we will like living the life we have built. Our lives are built on the foundation of Jesus. There is no real life without Him, but after receiving Jesus, it is our choice how we build and the quality of what we use to build with.
According to the grace (the special endowment for my task) of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid [the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. But let each [man] be careful how he builds upon it.
I Corinthians 3:10
Verse 12 mentions a variety of materials: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw. It is obvious what we should choose to build with, but we don’t always do so. Let us all ask ourselves what kind of life we are building.
Are you building a life that you want your children to inherit? Are you leaving a legacy to the world you can be proud of? As we choose a lifestyle, we should realize that our children more than likely will imitate what they see us do in many ways. We need to be careful how we build, not only for ourselves, but also for those we influence. Don’t build your life with one of the more inferior materials that are mentioned above, don’t even choose the middle-of-the-road materials, but instead choose and prize what is excellent and of real value.
There are other scripture verses that say the same thing as I Corinthians 3:10, but in a little different way. Paul made it clear in Ephesians that we are saved by grace not because of any works that we have done or could ever do (see Ephesians 2:8–9). After making that clear, he went on to say that God has planned a good life for us and that we should walk in it. Please notice that we have to walk in it, and walking takes effort, making decisions, and activity.
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
Ephesians 2:10 (AMPC)
Since before the beginning of what we know as “time,” God has prepared or planned ahead for us to have a good life. The prerequisite to the good life is to be born again by receiving Jesus as our personal Savior through our faith. After that, God desires that we go on to live the life He has made ready for us to live. He has laid out good works that “we may do them,” and He has prepared paths that “we should walk in them.”
We can clearly see that the will of God is for us to do good things and live a good life. That is impossible without us having a new nature, so He gives us His very own nature through the new birth, and then says to us, “Now you choose this good plan and the good works and walk them out in your life for my glory.” The message could not be any clearer: God provides, and we choose!
The message could not be any clearer: God provides, and we choose!
How many lies do you believe? Deception means to believe a lie. Most of us don’t consider whether what we believe is actually true or not, and the only way we can ever know is to compare what we believe to God’s Word. His Word alone is truth.
If you apply God’s Word to your life, you will find that it works exactly as He says it will. Don’t merely take someone else’s word for it, find out for yourself! You cannot be strong in God on secondhand faith. Your mom may have a strong faith, or your grandmother, but you need your own experience with God. Many people end up deceived if they believe everything they are told without doing any research into the validity of what they are being told.
In the beginning of my walk with God, I was taught some things that simply did not prove to be correct. One of them was that if I had a strong enough faith, I could avoid trouble and tribulation. But as I studied for myself and developed my own relationship with God, I learned by God’s Word and life’s experiences that what I had been taught was not accurate. I spent a few years very frustrated because each time I had a problem I tried to have more faith, instead of using the faith I had to trust God and remain peaceful. I thought that if I had enough faith I wouldn’t have the problem, but I was deceived, and the deception kept me in an area that prevented me from making any progress in my walk with God. Don’t take someone else’s word for what you should believe without studying the Bible for yourself!
As I started a journey to study God’s Word myself and seek God for myself, I discovered that without faith it is impossible to please God, and that everything we do should be done in faith. We may have very strong faith and still experience trials and difficulty in life. God gives us faith to get through hardship victoriously. We are more than conquerors through Christ Who loves us (see Romans 8:37), but how can we be more than conquerors if we never have anything to conquer? Faith does not eliminate difficulty, but it does help us navigate it while trusting God to deliver us at the right time.
This is simply one example of how we can be deceived if we don’t check things out for ourselves. Whether the teaching I heard was wrong or I was misunderstanding, it is still a mystery to me. But I do know that when we diligently seek God personally we will know the truth and it will make us free.
Do you have secondhand faith? The apostle Peter wrote that God’s divine power has bestowed on us everything we need to escape from the rottenness and moral decay in the world, through the full personal knowledge of Him Who called us (see II Peter 1:3). We need personal knowledge! A passive, lazy person would be more inclined not to put out the effort needed to check things out for himself, but it is dangerous not to do so. A truly spiritual man examines things:
But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].
I Corinthians 2:15 (AMPC)
I really like the Scripture I just quoted. It reminds me that the spiritually mature person does not swallow everything hook, line, and sinker. He examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things.
Deception is everywhere today. Many people actively do things due to deception that at one time would have been considered gross sin. God hasn’t changed His mind about right and wrong, but society has changed its mind. We have to make sure we are not drifting downstream with the careless crowd, or traveling on the wide road that leads to destruction. We should carefully examine what we think, say, do, and believe, and make sure it is in agreement with God’s Word. If anything in my life or yours doesn’t agree with God, then we are wrong, not Him!
God hasn’t changed His mind about right and wrong, but society has changed its mind.
Jesus warned the people several times to be careful that they were not deceived and led into error. He mentioned that we would especially need to be careful the closer we get to the end times. No man knows the day or hour when Jesus will return, but we can discern the times if we pay attention.
In the last days there will be wars and rumors of war, nation rising against nation, and earthquakes and famines in many places. People will be afflicted and suffer tribulation for the sake of Christ, and Christians will be hated. False prophets will arise and deceive many, leading them into error. Many will be offended and the love of the great body will grow cold due to the lawlessness in the land (see Matthew 24:4–12).
You can go right down the list and put a checkmark next to the things Jesus tells us to watch for. They are all a reality today, so surely He is coming soon and we need to be careful how we live. We want to be ready and excited when He comes, and we also want to be a good example to those who are lost and need to make a decision for Christ before it is too late. You are important to the plan of God. You do have a purpose. Let your light shine, and make sure that the light God has placed in you does not become darkness (see Luke 11:35).
I just had a momentary flashback of several people I know who are trying to decide what they want to do with their lives! It made me feel sad for a moment. Is it really up to us, or should we be saying, as Jesus did, “Your will be done, and not mine!” (see Luke 22:42)? What if every Christian had the same attitude that Jesus had? That is exactly what God expects us to do. He wants us to discover His will and use our free will to choose His will. When we make the right choice, the Holy Spirit will energize us to follow through.
Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 2:5 (AMPC)
Do we want God’s will more than anything else? Are we serious enough? Are we living carefully? If not, we can make a U-turn and go in the right direction. That is what repentance is. It means to turn and go in the right direction. Anytime we make the right choice God will empower us to do the right thing.
Since deception is a sign of end times, what kind of deception should we watch for? Moral deception surely must be at the top of the list. A recent study from George Barna and David Barton has provided some astounding statistics regarding what American adults believe about specific behaviors that the Bible clearly states are sinful:24
69% believe that divorce is acceptable for any reason.
67% believe it is acceptable for an unmarried woman to give birth to a baby.
66% believe a sexual relationship between an unmarried man and woman is acceptable.
64% believe gambling is acceptable.
63% enjoy sexual thoughts and fantasies about someone they are not married to.
63% live with someone of the opposite sex without being married.
47% have no problem using marijuana for recreational purposes.
44% use profanity.
43% look at pornography.
42% have had an abortion.
34% get drunk.
32% of teenagers have sex.
Less than 3 percent claim that when they make a moral choice they strive to be consistent with biblical standards. Only 34 percent believe there is an absolute moral truth.
Looking at some of these statistics, I definitely believe that many people are deceived. I have chosen to order my life and conduct according to God’s Word because it is the one thing that consistently produces good results in my life. I have lived life without God and I have lived life with Him, and I can promise you that “with God” is better!
There are people who choose not to believe that God exists or that the Bible is true, and that is, of course, their choice, but I sincerely believe they will ultimately be very sorry. I urge you to make the right choice, because our choices become our lives.
Things in the world look bleak now, but they can change if each of us will do our part. We are only responsible before God for our part, so if we do that, He will take care of us. Instead of complaining about the way things are in the world, let’s ask God what we can do to change it and then follow His lead.
Things will be much worse in the future if something isn’t done quickly, and we are the ones who need to do it. Each of us can make sure we are representing Christ properly and not compromising in order to fit into a society we don’t even like. If each one of us begins to be more careful about how we live, it may take time, but things in our society can be turned around.
There are many wonderful Christians who love God and live by a firm moral standard. They are the lights that are still turned on, but we need more lights and we need them shining brightly! Let’s all shine together!
We have a responsibility to be careful about what we listen to. Just because someone wants to talk, that doesn’t mean we should listen. Words have power and when they get in us, they can influence what we think if we are not cautious.
I’ve heard that only 25 percent of Christian students who enter college come out with their faith intact. Shocking! They sit in classes and are assigned books to read that undermine their Christian faith, and over a period of time what they are hearing can have an adverse effect on them unless they know how to resist what they know is not true.
Young Christians going into college should be well informed about what they are going to be confronted with. The devil has instigated an all-out attack to remove God from everything possible. Many of our key universities that were originally founded and led by great men and women of God are now totally secular in their approach to education. God has been taken out of our history books, and it is having a very negative impact on society. Life without God simply doesn’t work! He is the creator of all life, the owner and manager of all things, and the sustainer and maintainer of the universe. So how can things possibly work without Him? (See Hebrews 1:3.)
If a young person enters college without being firmly grounded in his Christian faith, personally knowing Scripture, his mind will be confronted with many theories and ideas that are popular but not biblical. Evolution, for example, is still called a theory, and yet 75 percent of students believe in evolution rather than creationism. The professors appeal to the students’ reasoning and tell them it is unreasonable to believe in God, but too much reasoning can easily deceive a person.
The spiritual man doesn’t reason, he discerns, and there is a big difference. Something may sound right to my mind, and yet I might not have any peace about it in my spirit. If that is the case, I should always follow peace. The Amplified translation of the Bible says that the mind of the flesh is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:6). When we live in the realm of sense and reason alone, we are bound to be deceived! Thankfully, we also have the mind of the Spirit, and it is life and life eternal. We have the mind of Christ (see I Corinthians 2:16). We have the ability to think as Christ does, and when we do it will surely protect us against deception.
Don’t listen to gossip. If the person you are listening to is talking about someone else to you, they will talk about you to someone else. The Bible warns us against gossip in many places. One good example is found in Proverbs. It says:
Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.
Proverbs 20:19 (ESV)
The sad thing about gossip is that once we have heard a criticism about another person, even if we don’t want to believe what we have heard, it often makes us more suspicious of him or her. We should protect ourselves from the poison of gossip by stopping gossipers the moment they get started. Unless they have a really good reason for telling you what they are about to tell you, you don’t need to hear it.
Paul told Timothy to always shut his mind against stupid controversies over ignorant questions because they foster strife (see II Timothy 2:23). In other words, “Don’t listen to it.”
Don’t associate “with him who talks too freely” (Proverbs 20:19 AMPC). Don’t make friendships with those given to anger (see Proverbs 22:24). Don’t associate with those given to change, because they are unstable and unreliable (see Proverbs 24:21). Don’t associate closely and habitually with those who are: immoral, greedy, do not give God first place in their lives, foul-mouthed (slanderous, reviling, critical, negative), a drunkard, a swindler, or a robber (see I Corinthians 5:9–11).
With this many instructions about whom not to associate with, it must be really important. A man’s friends say a lot about him. Light doesn’t fellowship with darkness (see II Corinthians 6:14). This doesn’t mean that we should or even can avoid all people with ungodly traits, but we would be wise not to choose them as close associates.
We do choose our friends, and it’s important that we choose them wisely. Choose friends you can trust, you can admire and respect, and you would like to learn from. If we spend a lot of time with someone, we may adopt the mannerisms and habits of that person and not even be aware that we are doing it. People influence us, so it is essential that we guard our heart, for out of it flow the springs of life (see Proverbs 4:23).
Being careful requires that we put some thought into what the outcome of our actions will be, and then make choices that will produce what we desire. Being careless allows us to follow emotions and just do anything without considering what the results may be. God desires that we be careful how we live so we can enjoy the good plan He has prearranged for us.
I therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God’s service].
Ephesians 4:1 (AMPC)
We are given several encouragements in God’s Word to be careful how we behave. It is obvious that people see our behavior, and by that they form their opinions of us. As representatives of Christ, it is vital that our behavior is an outward display of what we say that we believe as Christians.
Tremendous damage has been done to the cause of Christ due to hypocritical behavior of some Christians throughout history. A hypocrite is someone who teaches others to do what he does not do himself.
People in the world watch those who claim to be Christians, and evil people are looking for an excuse to make an accusation against them. The apostle Paul urges us to live above reproach, so those in the outside world can find no fault with us (I Timothy 3:2–7).
Christians are not perfect in their behavior. We do make mistakes, but we can still strive to do our best and always remember that we are God’s representatives in the earth. Let’s live more carefully, being watchful and cautious, and as we do, it will not only improve our own lives, but it will also be a good example to others.
• To be “careful” really means to be wise—to choose to do now what you will be happy with later.
• God has graciously planned a good life for you to live.
• If you apply God’s Word to your life, you will find that it works exactly as He says it will.
• Faith does not eliminate difficulty, but it does help us navigate it while trusting God to deliver us at the right time.
• You are important to the plan of God. You do have a purpose.
• When you choose God’s will, the Holy Spirit will energize you to live out that decision.