“walk worthy”

Ephesians 4:1

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Only two words are highlighted here, but oh how much they ask, and how great the effort they require!

Walking is a verb used many times, especially in the New Testament, to convey more than the idea of simply getting from here to there.  Walking is also used as a command, telling us to follow God’s course of action; His way of life.

“Walk in the light as He is in the light.” ~ 1 John 1:7

“Walk as Jesus did.” ~ 1 John 2:6

“Walk in the way of love.” ~ Ephesians 5:2

“Walk in obedience to His commands.” ~ Deuteronomy 5:33

and my favorite:

“Walk humbly with your God.” ~ Micah 6:8

The implication in that last one is, of course, that He’s walking humbly, so if you are walking with Him, then you need to be walking humbly, too.

But in this passage today, Paul is telling us to walk “worthy of the calling with which you were called.”  There is a valuable lesson here in the individuality of which this phrasing speaks.  “The calling with which you were called” is a beautiful reminder that God does not speak to all of us in the same way, nor does He ask the same thing of our walk.  One missionary may be responding to His call to bring the little children unto Him, and another might be obeying the command to go and make disciples of all the nations.  They both are in the same place at the same time, and might even be doing much the same work, but they were each called by Him differently.  And they each have an obligation to stay true to their calling.  It leaves no place for judging others’ service as superior or inferior to yours.  Only God is in position to deem success or failure.   As Abraham Lincoln said, “I might walk slowly, but I never walk backward.”

And fortunately, God grades us only on our efforts, as any achievement is His responsibility.  That’s the beauty of walking with God.  We need only walk worthy; the destination is up to Him.

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