15.12 WALK – How to walk worthy of your calling?
Let us run through the other verses in Ephesians that contain the word – “walk”. Paul exhorts the believer in Eph 4:1-3 to walk worthy of the calling in which you were called.
(Eph 4:1-3)
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING IN WHICH YOU WERE CALLED, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE, 3 endeavoring to keep the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
A lot of people try to walk without understanding the calling in which they were called. That would be trying to walk without learning to sit. First of all, we need to understand the calling in which we were called. Once we have learnt to sit (rest on His calling), then we will be able to walk in that calling.
What is the calling of God? Jesus died on the cross and gave us a calling. Our broad calling is to be in Christ, and to have Him live in us. We have been called to be righteous and holy by His blood. We have been called to be kings and priests. Once we are in Christ and His Spirit lives in us, He will guide us to fulfill His specific plan for our lives.
Let us go back to the verses above. The verse talks about the Christian walk – that we should bear with one another with love. Christians who have not learnt how to sit will quote this verse and say, “Oh, you are a Christian and you have to love one another. When you love another, God will bless you!” Can you identify with this? The focus is always on “you have to love”. This is trying to walk without learning how to sit.
How do we sit? Eph 4:1 starts with the word “therefore”. So we will have to move back to the preceding verses to see the context.
(Eph 3:17-19)
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[c] 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The preceding verses tell us about our comprehension of the width, length, depth and height of the love of Christ. When we know the love of Christ, we will be filled with the fullness of God.
To sit is to know the love of Christ. To walk is to let the love of Christ flow from us to bear with others in love. Many Christians who try to walk without sitting will end up trying to love in their own strength.
The key to walking worthy of our calling (our part) is simply to first understand the calling God gave us (through Jesus' finished work).
(Eph 4:1-3)
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to WALK WORTHY OF THE CALLING IN WHICH YOU WERE CALLED, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE, 3 endeavoring to keep the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
A lot of people try to walk without understanding the calling in which they were called. That would be trying to walk without learning to sit. First of all, we need to understand the calling in which we were called. Once we have learnt to sit (rest on His calling), then we will be able to walk in that calling.
What is the calling of God? Jesus died on the cross and gave us a calling. Our broad calling is to be in Christ, and to have Him live in us. We have been called to be righteous and holy by His blood. We have been called to be kings and priests. Once we are in Christ and His Spirit lives in us, He will guide us to fulfill His specific plan for our lives.
Let us go back to the verses above. The verse talks about the Christian walk – that we should bear with one another with love. Christians who have not learnt how to sit will quote this verse and say, “Oh, you are a Christian and you have to love one another. When you love another, God will bless you!” Can you identify with this? The focus is always on “you have to love”. This is trying to walk without learning how to sit.
How do we sit? Eph 4:1 starts with the word “therefore”. So we will have to move back to the preceding verses to see the context.
(Eph 3:17-19)
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[c] 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The preceding verses tell us about our comprehension of the width, length, depth and height of the love of Christ. When we know the love of Christ, we will be filled with the fullness of God.
To sit is to know the love of Christ. To walk is to let the love of Christ flow from us to bear with others in love. Many Christians who try to walk without sitting will end up trying to love in their own strength.
The key to walking worthy of our calling (our part) is simply to first understand the calling God gave us (through Jesus' finished work).
posted by Joshua Lye @ 12:07 AM
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