Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the
Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called
by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making
allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to
keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”
We will be using Ephesians 4:1-3 as a road map, so to speak,
to show us how to live “worthy of our calling.”
First, we need to recognize that we were created intentionally. Whether our parents were expecting to
conceive or not, God had a plan for our conception and birth. Psalm 139:13-16 “You made all the delicate,
inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for
making me so wonderfully complex! Your
workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven
together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my
life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day
had passed.”
Next, we need to understand that God has a calling for each
of us. If we did not all have a call,
why would Paul admonish us to live worthy of it? This calling is to be a witness for Christ in
whatever vocation we choose. God often
calls individuals to specific occupations (yet even then there are choices),
however, in most cases he places in us talents and abilities and then allows us
to choose the way we use them.
For example, my spiritual gifts are teaching and exhortation,
they come naturally. I fall into teacher/exhorter
mode without even thinking. I chose to attend
college to hone these gifts and then chose be an elementary teacher for almost
20 years. Now I use those same gifts to
write this blog each day. I did not hear
God tell me I had to be a teacher.
Actually, I was also interested in social work (which would also use my
teaching gift), however, I realized that I was not gifted in administration and
social work would entail mountains of paperwork which I would have hated.
If I had chosen to go into social work, I would not have
been “out of God’s will” as some might teach.
God does not have one plan for each individual to follow. If he did, then, when we rebel, chose another
path, or simply don’t understand his plan we would be “out of his will” for our
entire life. God doesn't micro manage
our lives. He gives each of us gifts and
talents coupled with intelligence. While
he never leaves us alone and desires to be involved in our decision making, he
entrusts our decisions and choices into our hands. You might be thinking that
within each occupation, vocation, etc. there are many different choices of
places of employment. I do believe that
we need to pray about where we work.
While it is ultimately our choice, God knows the pros and cons of each
place. If we ask, he will direct us to
the place where we will be the best fit; the place where we will be most useful
for his Kingdom as a tool in his hand.
To continue, Paul gives us specific things to do to “live
worthy”.
a.
Be humble
A story is told about a man who asked his rabbi why people couldn't see
the face of God. What had happened that they could no longer reach high enough
to see God?
The rabbi, a very old man, had experienced a lot in his life and was very
wise. "My son," he said, "that is not the way it is at all. You
cannot see the face of God because there are so few who can stoop that low. How
sad this is, but it is the truth. Learn to bend, to bow, to kneel and stoop and
you will be able to see God face-to-face."
Jonathan
Edwards said, “We must view humility as one of the most essential things that
characterizes true Christianity.” Our perspective on humility can be radically
changed if we will ponder and meditate on the greatest example of humility in
history: Jesus Christ. By the very act of leaving heaven, coming to earth, and
taking the form of man, he demonstrated an unfathomable humbling of himself.
Throughout his life on earth, Jesus demonstrated a spirit of profound humility,
saying that he came “not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). On his last night with the disciples, he took a
towel and basin and washed their dirty feet (John 13:1–11), instructing them to
follow his example of servanthood with one another (John 13:12–17). Andrew
Murray captures it well, “Christ is the humility of God embodied in human
nature; the Eternal Love humbling itself, clothing itself in the garb of
meekness and gentleness, to win and serve and save us.” Taken from: http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/Pride_and_Humility_Page5
b.
Be gentle
The Greek language
in which the N.T. was originally written, was a precise & expressive
language. When the Greeks developed a word, they not only gave it a careful
definition, but they almost always illustrated it.
Their definition of
gentleness was "power under control," & they illustrated it with
the picture of a horse that had been tamed. Gentleness to them was a powerful
animal with its power completely under control. (Melvin M. Newland)
In John 8 we find the story of the woman caught in adultery. She was guilty, she knew it, and so did
Jesus. He could have condemned her but
he didn't, instead he addressed the sin
in her accusers (John 8:7-9, They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up
again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the
first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the
accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest,
until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.)
Once
they were along, Jesus treated her with gentleness. He did not condone her sin, yet he did not
treat her harshly as her sin would have allowed. (John 8:10-11, Then Jesus stood up again and
said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn
you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no
more.”)
All Scripture is NLT unless otherwise stated.
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