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| “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.” |
| —Ephesians 5:3 |
Many years ago, I heard a particularly popular preacher from the denomination in which I grew up, the Erie Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church, preach a sermon that I considered quite masterful. He began by very gently recounting an incident in the life of Jesus where our Lord encounters a Samaritan woman at the village well. You may know this story from John 4:1-42, so I will not repeat it here.
After delving deeply into the truth of this meeting between two very unlikely people, the preacher proceeded to ask the question, “What sin do you think you have hidden in your life?” And, with that question, the preacher turned to the writings of the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 5:3:
Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
After he had shared this rather stern warning, and spent some time developing the background for Paul’s admonition, the preacher paused and with a chuckle said, “Now I know that some of you have begun to think, ‘That preacher has stopped preaching and now he’s gone to meddling!’”
I wonder how much “meddling” we need from time to time in our lives. How often do we need to be reminded that, in the midst of a great outpouring of God’s love for us, He also wants those He has called to Himself to become more and more holy? Certainly, among His many other sterling qualities, God is the “Great Meddler,” insofar as our lives are concerned.
We may think we have sins that we have successfully hidden from the world. But, we cannot hide anything we do from God. He sees it all, knows it all, experiences it all—right along with us every single day of our lives.
As we begin a new day, let’s welcome God’s meddling in our lives. Let’s tell Him, as we talk with Him in prayer each day, that we invite His meddling and ask Him to keep us on the pathway that He wants us to follow. If we do that, the Holy Spirit will gladly nudge us when we slip off that pathway.
