Efésios 5
Desert Fathers
Efésios 5:8
A hermit said, 'When the donkey's eyes are covered it walks round the mill-wheel. If you uncover its eyes, it will not go on walking in the circle. So if the devil succeeds in covering a man's eyes, he leads him into every kind of sin. But if the man's eyes are uncovered, he can more easily escape.' — The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
Efésios 5:15-16
A hermit said, 'If you lose gold or silver, you can find something as good as you lost. But the man who loses time can never make up what he has lost.' — The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks
Efésios 5:18
Antony said, 'I think that the body has a natural movement within itself, which obeys the orders of the mind, a kind of inclination of which the body's actions are only symptoms. There is a second movement in the body, caused by eating and drinking, by which the blood is heated and excited. That is why St Paul said, 'Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess' (Eph. 5:18), and again the Lord commanded his disciples in the Gospel, 'See that your hearts be not overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness' (Luke 21:34). There is a third movement which comes from the deceit and envy of demons against those who are trying to live a good life. It is a help to know that there are three bodily inclinations – from nature, from too much food, and from the demons.' — The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks