“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)
In 1956 Johnny Cash wrote a song called, “I Walk the Line.” The song became his first number one Billboard hit and remained on the charts for more than 43 weeks. He wrote the song to express his desire to remain true and faithful to his wife in the face of many temptations. It’s a love song really. A song of promise and devotion to someone outside of himself. And while Cash wrote about his intentioned faithfulness to his marriage, the song can also describe the heart of a Christian who loves Jesus and intends to walk out life with him. The lyrics of the song are as follows:
I keep a close watch on this heart of mine
I keep my eyes wide open all the time.
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds
Because you’re mine,
I walk the line
I find it very, very easy to be true
I find myself alone when each day is through
Yes, I’ll admit I’m a fool for you
Because you’re mine,
I walk the line
As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night
And happiness I’ve known proves that it’s right
Because you’re mine,
I walk the line
You’ve got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can’t hide
For you I know I’d even try to turn the tide
Because you’re mine,
I walk the line
Three times in Ephesians 5, Paul describes the “walk” of the Christian life. He tells us to: “walk in love,” (verses 1-2), “walk in light,” (verse 8), and “walk carefully” (verses 15-16). To “walk in love” is to be devoted to God and to be an imitator or mimic of our Heavenly Father. Because God is love, we too should be loving (toward him, others, and ourselves). Because Christ is a sweet-smelling offering who brings joy to the heart of God by giving himself for sinners, so too, our lives should be an offering to God for the sake of the lost world around us. To “walk in light” or to “walk as children of the light” means to shine like our Heavenly Father shines. To radiate purity in our lives. If darkness produces sin and lies, then light produces goodness, righteousness, and truth. To “walk carefully” means to be on the watch so as not to stumble or fall away. It would be foolish to stumble along in life never knowing the will of the Lord. It would be foolish to be tripped up by the world that hates God. Instead, we walk carefully so as to discover and then align our lives with God’s will for us.
And how do we do this? How do we “walk in love,” “walk in light,” and “walk carefully?” We do it by being filled with the Spirit (verse 18). Instead of being stimulated and controlled by things outside of ourselves (like drunkenness), we should be stimulated and controlled by the Holy Spirit. He intends to fill us and set us aglow for God. We must be filled with his Presence. And make no mistake, this is not a suggestion. “Be filled with the Spirit!” is in command form and it is expressed as an ongoing, continually need (as opposed to a one-time event). We are commanded by God to have our lives full of his Presence. He gives us this command because he knows only he will truly satisfy us. And He knows that unless we allow him to continually fill us, so as to give us his power, his goodness, his life, his truth, and his purity, we will never be able to walk the line in this world.
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