Pay Attention
READ
Ever driven a route you know so well that you pulled into your driveway and realized you couldn't remember a single thing about the trip? Your hands and feet did their job, but you weren't really there for it. A lot of life can go that way, one ordinary day sliding into the next on autopilot. Paul has something to say about that.
Read Ephesians 5:15–21 and notice how often he talks about paying attention.
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
REFLECT
"Be very careful, then, how you live." That's a phrase about attention more than rules. Paul isn't asking for a perfect life. He's asking for an awake one. "Not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity."
It's easy to hear "make the most of your time" and picture a color-coded planner and a packed schedule. But that's not really what Paul means. Making the most of time isn't about squeezing more productivity out of each hour. It's about noticing the hour you're actually in. The conversation happening right now. The person who needs a kind word today. The small window to say sorry, say thanks, or say yes to something good before it passes.
Then Paul says something that might seem random at first: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." Why put those two side by side? Because they're both ways of being filled, of letting something take over. Most of us are looking for something to fill us up, take the edge off, or help us get through the day. For some people that's a drink. For others it's the phone, the next purchase, work, or a steady stream of noise. Paul's point isn't just "don't do that." It's "there's a better thing to be filled with." Something that doesn't leave you emptier when it wears off.
And look at what being filled with the Spirit actually looks like in the verses that follow. It's not dramatic or showy. It's "speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs," making music in your heart, "always giving thanks to God for everything," and "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." In other words: worship, gratitude, and treating the people around you with humility. It's surprisingly ordinary. A life filled with God's Spirit spills out into how you sing, what you're thankful for, and how you handle your relationships.
Gratitude might be the most practical piece of this. It's hard to be on autopilot and thankful at the same time. Gratitude forces you to notice: the coffee that was hot this morning, the friend who texted back, the thing that went right when plenty went wrong. A thankful person is almost always an attentive one.
So maybe wisdom, in Paul's sense, isn't mostly about having the right answers. It's about showing up to your actual life with your eyes open, paying attention to God in the middle of the dishes, the commute, and the conversation you almost rushed through.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
Where in your week do you tend to run on autopilot, so that you barely notice what's going on around you?
What do you tend to reach for when you want to feel "filled" or take the edge off? What might it look like to turn toward God instead?
What's one thing you could thank God for out loud today, something you'd normally overlook?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
God, thank You for meeting us in ordinary moments, not just the big ones. Forgive us for the times we sleepwalk through our days and miss what's right in front of us. Fill us with Your Spirit so we aren't constantly searching for something else to fill us. Help us notice the people, the opportunities, and the small gifts You place in our path. Teach us to live wisely by living awake. Amen.