If anybody knows about walking, it’s Paul. The dude knows how to get around. He may have been riding a horse to Damascus when Jesus blindsided him (Acts 9:3). He hopped aboard ships several times to get from point A to point B to tell folks about Jesus (Acts 13:4, 13; 14:26). And you’ve probably heard about that wild voyage to Rome that made Gilligan’s three-hour tour look like a paddle boat ride on a farm pond (Acts 27:1-28:13). But mostly he walked. He beat feet. He hoofed it. Sometimes solo. Sometimes with a posse. Paul knows all about putting one foot in front of the other. He knows what it means to walk and do it well. To walk with purpose. To walk in the right direction. To walk efficiently. He knows what it means to walk wisely. So when he tells us how to walk, we really ought to listen. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise” (v15).
The apostle loves to talk about walking. He uses this idea seven times in this little letter alone. This is the Greek verb peripateo. It’s a compound word, peri- (around) pateo (walk). It means to walk around, go about, progress and make one’s way. Jesus was “was walking (Gr. peripateo) by the Sea of Galilee” when saw Pete and Andy after a long day of fishing (Mt 4:18). Mark used peripateo when he wrote of Christ strolling around the temple courts (Mk 11:27).
But Hebrews in the first century, of which Paul is one, used this idea to describe living life. And he drops it seven times in this note to his friends back in Ephesus. He reminds us that we used to be among the Walking Dead. “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked (Gr. peripateo)” (Eph 2:2). We need to stop stumbling around like unbelievers and “no longer walk (Gr. peripateo) as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds” (Eph 4:17). As followers of Jesus, God has carefully prepared stuff for us to do and “we should walk (Gr. peripateo) in them” (Eph 2:10). We’re also to “walk (Gr. peripateo) in a manner worthy of the calling” (Eph 4:1). One important way to look at how to live is to “walk (Gr. peripateo) in love” by living a sacrificial life like our Savior (Eph 5:2). We need to stop stumbling around in the dark and “walk (Gr. peripateo) as children of light” (Eph 5:8). I’m tellin’ you, this guy knows his stuff when it comes to walking.
Now we come to the last time the apostle uses the term in Ephesians. He tells us to walk and live our lives “carefully” (v15). This is akribos, which means diligently, accurately, exactly, precisely and strictly. It’s doing something thoroughly with great attention to detail. Herod asks the three foreign travelers to “search diligently (Gr. akribos)” for the baby king (Mt 2:7) so he could worship Him too (yeah, right!). Dr. Luke tells his boss Theophilus that he’s investigated Jesus story thoroughly and “carefully (Gr. akribos)” (Lk 1:3). So when we walk and follow Jesus, we must be diligent. We must be accurate. We must be precise. We must be thorough.
First Paul lets us know how NOT to walk. Don’t plod along “as unwise” (v15). The original text literally says “not wise.” But it carries the idea of foolish, silly and senseless. Remember the classic Monty Python sketch “The Ministry of Silly Walks” with John Cleese? The apostle knew all about the foolishness of that 2,000 years before the Flying Circus cooked up that bit. Once I realize who Jesus is and what He’s done for me, it’s time to stop walking like a fool. It’s time to stop living like I don’t have a clue. It’s time to stop the silly walks.
Instead, we’re to walk as “wise” (v15). This is the Greek word sophos. It’s being skilled, clever, learned or experienced. Wisdom is acquired intelligence put into practice. The ability to practically apply knowledge. It’s knowing what to do and then actually doing it. Someone who is wise is an expert. Paul worked painstakingly as a “wise (Gr. sophos) master builder” to craft local churches (1Cor 3:10). We’re to walk in wisdom. We’re walk as experts. We’re to put into practice what we know about Jesus. We’re to apply it to our everyday lives. We’re to walk wisely.
Before we take another step, we need to understand something critical about God’s wisdom. Jesus is turning everything upside down. Actually, He’s turning right side up. He’s restoring things to the way the were before we jacked the whole thing up. What the world thinks is smart and successful is actually foolish and failure. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men” (1Cor 1:25). God continually proves His own wisdom and power by using what the world considers knuckleheads and morons to build His kingdom. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” (1Cor 1:27). That’s because He does things in ways that are WAY beyond our feeble minds (Is 55:8). There are entire books of the OT dedicated to the practical application of God’s wisdom in our lives. Proverbs. Job. Ecclesiastes. Song of Songs. Huge sections of Psalms. Even James, the first book written in the NT. These books instruct us as to what it looks like to walk in God’s wisdom. They help us understand what it means to walk wisely.
To walk in wisdom, the apostle wants us to live in the light of who Jesus is and what He’s done. He wants us to know that there’s not a cotton pickin’ thing we can do add to what our Savior has already done for us. To walk wisely is to let His Tsunami of Blessing wash all over you (Eph 1:3-14). God has already blessed us, chose us, predestined us, adopted us, redeemed us, forgiven us, lavished His wisdom on us, revealed to us His purpose in Jesus and sealed us with His Spirit. There’s not a dad-blamed thing we can add to that! To walk wisely is to remember that we were among the walking dead before God made us alive in Jesus (Eph 2:1-9). He did it for us because of His great love for us. NOT because we were such hot stuff. We bring nothing to the table except the sin that makes our salvation absolutely necessary. He saves us when we place our trust in Jesus. He lived the perfect life that we completely failed to live. He died the bloody death for our sin that we should have died. He rose to the spectacular new life that we certainly don’t deserve. That’s what we trust. That’s WHOM we trust. That’s walking wisely!
Tullian Tchividjian says that the key to our continuing growth in Christ, what really wise dudes call sanctification, is continually remembering what Jesus did to save us in the first place, our justification. Walking wisely is realizing that His Gospel doesn’t just get us into His kingdom. It keeps us in. Walking unwisely is the goofball idea that once Jesus has saved me, I can take it from here. Now THAT’S a silly walk!! Walking wisely is understanding the now power of the Gospel. Walking wisely is humbly knowing that I need Jesus and His salvation every single, stinkin’ moment of my life. I need Him not just to save me once but to keep on saving me. Think I’m joking? Just check out the progression of Paul’s maturity. In one of his early letters, he calls himself “the least of the apostles” (1Cor 15:9). A little later in his life he admits to be “the very least of all the saints” (Eph 3:8). And not long before his death, he understood himself to number one in the sinner rankings (1Tim 1:15). Walking wisely isn’t getting so good at the Christian life that you don’t need Jesus anymore. Walking wisely is the knee-buckling realization that you desperately need Him every moment of every single day.
Paul knows a lot about walking. We ought to listen to what he has to say.
I was wondering what you think about this. Do you agree? Or do you think I need to take a long walk? Drop a comment below and let me know.
