Ephesians 4:26, 27:
Be angry and sin not, let not the sun go down on your wrath. Neither give place to the devil.
These verses from Ephesians have typically been tied to our anger and wrath toward each other. The example of marriage is often used with the admonition to take care of our wrong feelings before we go to bed. This is good instruction because we all know it is easier to go to sleep when we are free from anger. Yet, the beginning of this verse tells us to be angry and sin not. The type of anger referred to here is a justifiable anger.
The book of Ephesians is a parallel book to the Old Testament book of Joshua. I discovered this when I studied to teach the book of Joshua to the congregation I pastor. Many thoughts found in Ephesians are found in story form in Joshua. Moving from spiritual immaturity to adulthood is illustrated in the Israelites crossing from the wilderness into Canaan. Conquering the enemy and defeating them is illustrated in the many battles facing the Jews when they entered the land. God already promised them victory and the obtaining of the land, wherever they placed their feet.
One story stands out to me. The Israelites were attacked by a number of armies who joined forces just to eliminate the Jewish people. Yet, God gave the victory to Israel in a battle that lasted through the entire day. When the sun was about to go down, Joshua did not want to quit fighting. Winning was more important than sleeping. His wrath against the enemies needed to be consummated with a victory and the enemy kings dead. Joshua commanded the sun to stand still and it did for almost another twenty-four hour day. Israel fought, won the battle and then the sun went down.
Some things demand such a high priority in our life we need to keep a vigil up until that battle is over. In other words, we cannot let the sun go down on our wrath against the works of the devil in our lives. We may not be able to keep the physical sun from going down, but we do not have to be distracted by other things in life. Standing against a life threatening disease needs to occupy the bulk of our time and attention until we see the manifestation and the disease is gone from our bodies. When we lay down a battle and pick it up later, we give place to the devil and we lose ground we have gained. God and His Word are not a part of my life, they are my life. My battles against demons and Satan himself are also not a part of my life, but my life. When I seek first (primarily) the kingdom of God and His righteousness, I will have all other things added to me. Nothing will keep me from victory in the Christian life. How about you?
