Live Worthy of your Call - Ephesians 4:1
Ephesians 4:1 “I, therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called”
Having a relationship with Christ is not
just about accepting Him as your saviour and acknowledging what He has done and
who He is; it is about living in a way that is worthy of the sacrifice that He
has made for you.
In Ephesians 4:1 Paul instructs us to live
worthy of the calling with which we were called. In order to do that we need to
first accept the call. Matthew 22:14 states “many are called but few are chosen.”
2 Peter 3:9 states “9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men
count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
God does not want any to perish. He wishes for all to be
brought back to Him through Christ Jesus; however the majority of us do not
accept the call with which He calls us. If
you want to know more about this then read other posts and statement of faith
on this site, or take the ‘am I a good person test’ to find out about God’s
call and what He has done for us.
For those who have accepted His call, we must then go on to
live worthy of that call.
When Paul writes Ephesians, He is in prison. He has been
imprisoned for preaching the Gospel of Christ. Yet, despite being imprisoned
for this, most of the New Testament is made up of letters from Paul encouraging
us to follow Christ, which is the exact thing he has been
imprisoned for. In Phillipians 1:21 Paul states, “For me to live is Christ, and
to die is gain.”
Paul understood the great sacrifice that God made in order for
us to be saved and to redeem us from the death which sin brings – the death which
all mankind are subject to. Paul knew the heavy price Jesus paid for our
salvation, a price which cost his life. Paul was well aware of the second
chance He had been given by God, to enable him to become one with our perfect
God and creator, as God initially intended for us.
Paul also recognised the futility of what the world has to
offer us. He recognised that this world is but a flash in comparison with
eternity and that what we put our trusts and hopes in is important.
He states in Romans 8:18 “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with
the glory that will be revealed in us.”
He states in 2
Cornithians 4:17 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory;”
1 Peter 5:10 states “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in
Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and
make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus
states, “ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Paul new that everything on this world is
temporary. As it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, the world and everything in
it are fading away.
1 John 2:17 states, “The world and its desires pass away, but
whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
As Christians who have
put our trust in Christ, do not just remain static in our faith and continue to
occupy ourselves with things that are of no benefit to us.
1 Corinthians 10:23 states, “"I have the right to do anything," you say--but
not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything"--but
not everything is constructive.” [NIV].
Rather, go on and live
in a way that is worthy in accordance with the sacrifice made. Fill your lives
with the Spirit. Focus on the light and equip yourself with the armour of God
so that you may not fall prey to the world which brings nothing but
unfulfillment and worthlessness, but instead be able to withstand in the evil
day, having done all to stand (Eph. 6).
Imagine if you are in a
life and death situation because of a mistake you have made. It is because of
your own actions that you are in this life threatening position. Yet, your
friend, who is nearby, quickly sees your struggle and jumps in, so that you may
be saved. In doing so your friend loses his life. How tragic this would be and
how distraught you would feel. If this were to happen, you would want to live
your life in a way that is worthy of the sacrifice your friend made for you,
the sacrifice that enabled you to have a second chance.
This is exactly what Christ
Jesus did for you. We have breached God’s laws and put ourselves in a position
which ultimately leads to our death. We take pleasure in that which is not good
for us and is not of God, yet Jesus saw the predicament we were in and instead
of condemning us, which He had every right to do, He sacrificed His own life to
allow us the opportunity to live free from all that rubbish the world has to
offer.
Let us go on and live
worthy of the call of God, lest we trample the sacrifice Christ made under our
feet.
“For God so loved the
world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever so believeth in Him shall
not perish but have everlasting life.”
- John
3:16
BACChrsitian
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