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The thought that the following were a few written words from prison about two thousand years ago intrigues me. Are you wondering what is on the mind of this man in prison so long ago?
4 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, Ephesians 4:1-2
FROM PRISON
Paul is the writer and the setting is a prison. He is writing a letter to those believers of the church at Ephesus. Paul tells it as it is. He identifies himself as a prisoner of the Lord. It was his faith in the risen Christ that landed him in prison. He spends a good bit of time in prison for his testimony and writes to many from his various imprisonments.
TO THE BELIEVERS
He addresses believers that they must be worthy of the fact that God Himself has called them.
God wooed us by the Holy Spirit to respond to the truth of Jesus Christ.
Paul tells us now as the saved to walk in that faith.
THE WORTHY WALK
He beseeches you to walk worthy of the calling He gave you.
Be worthy of the name of Christian. Stand for Jesus no matter the pain and suffering that your profession of faith might bring. Will your faith land you also in a dark, dank prison? Will you too rely upon God to make you a light in that dark place?
Think of the words that Paul wrote during his imprisonments. They changed the world. Those words inspired, touched souls, and stood thoughout the centuries.
LOWLINESS, GENTLENESS, LONG-SUFFERING, LOVE
Paul also tells them to take this Christian journey in lowliness.
Scripture tells us that Paul himself is well-educated and came from a fairly wealthy, prestigious family. Yet he tells them that they should be lowly. He too is being lowly in the midst of squalor and difficulty as a prisoner.
Paul tells us to be gentle though he might not have been treated with gentleness himself in his present condition. He tells them to be longsuffering as he too deals with things that require patience and suffering over a long period of time.
Paul ends the verse by telling them to bear with each other in love. Perhaps he is thinking of those other guards and fellow prisoners with whom it has been difficult to be loving.
He knows that of himself there is no love that deep.
Christ alone gives the help needed to love others. He gives us the power to pour out love, even on those who are most unloveable.
The help of the Holy Spirit of God within us helps us to love this abundantly and in the worst of circumstances.
OUR OWN LIVES
Paul’s words humble me.
Do they also cause YOU to turn to God for help to show such lowliness, gentleness, long-suffering, and love in our own lives?
Will your life and words and actions then help another and point him to draw closer to God?