Isaiah - Verse By Verse

Walking through Ephesians - Day 67

versebyverse | January 14, 2008 22:09

Thought:  To me, God's call upon my life may not be what I expected.

Question:  Am I a "prisoner for the Lord"?

Scripture:  Ephesians 4:1 (NIV):  "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."

Paul, as usual, uses all his previous postulations as a basis upon which to stand, making a case for us to be motivated to live a pure, holy life.  He uses himself as a prime example.  He is "a prisoner."  What worse restraints could one find himself in?  What worse tribulation could exist?  Paul knows.  Nothing we could throw out would outshine Paul's sufferings, and he has still chosen to regard his calling as high and overflowing with gifts and blessings.  Because he has this good attitude, he call us, "urges" us, to join him in attitude, and live "worthily."  Contrary to seeking relief from suffering in any number of human ways, we should somewhat set aside the suffering, not dwell on it, not focus on it, but let it happen because God ordained it.  Then we are to focus on God, decide on how to live a life before others that promotes spirituality further, and live up to "the calling you have received."

Did I receive a "calling"?  Yes.  All Christians have.  What is this calling?  It is, to me, to live as though God owned me--which, in fact, He does.  If God owns me, (and I know it because I"ve yielded to His ownership), then every single one of my behaviors ought to reflect His ownership; every word, every thought, every deed, every choice, every desire, etc.  Thus when fleshly desires, thoughts, words, deeds and choices surface, they should be dealt with as though run by God's inspection process, purified, expunged, forgiven, slain, until every facet of my life is under His control.  A true Christian wants to be controlled by God:  confined by Him, hedged around by Him, limited by Him, corrected by Him, under God's thumb!  Those who do not want God this way are not truly Christian, and therefore, are not "worthy" to be called such.  Paul is very "Christian."  He allows himself to be "a prisoner for the Lord."  This "imprisonment" actually allows us then to be set free spiritually, expanded by Him in ministry and moved forward to work for His Kingdom by His hand.  We may regard our circumstances as binding but to God they could well be an opportunity for great growth.  Let us get a hold of this mindset.

Prayer:  My Lord, help me to grasp fully the good purposes You have in the experiences of limitation and "imprisonment", whether in my life or others' lives, and help me to be moved by this to live worthily.  Amen. 

General | Next | Previous | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Comments

Add comment
 
Accessible and Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS
Powered by LifeType - Design by BalearWeb - Hosted by New Technologies.