“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:1-2)
Comparing Christianity to prison may not be the way you want to think of your faith. But in these verses, part of a letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he was probably speaking literally.
After all, Paul was jailed many times for his faith and actions as part of the early church. If anyone knows what it’s like to be a prisoner for God, it would be Paul.
Paul didn’t turn from his calling. He didn’t run or hide or continue on his chosen path of persecuting Christians. No, he turned his back on his old life (quite a good one from a worldly perspective in those times) and turned to God.
But is accepting your calling enough? If you’ve heard the call from God, felt His guiding presence taking you by the shoulders and turning you in the direction you are meant to go, is seeing the way the same as living it?
Walking the walk of our faith
We are called not just to be Christians, but to act like Christians. Maybe it won’t mean a jail sentence like it does for Paul or our brothers and sisters in other countries, but it will mean turning our backs on one path and walking another.
Sometimes that’s really easy because you’ve been unconsciously waiting to leave that life for a while. Following your faith feels inevitable and like a relief.
But sometimes, it feels hard every day. Some days you need to check in with God – “Is this really what you meant?” – because you wonder when it will get easier.
I fall somewhere in between. Five years ago, I felt God walking me into the homeschool life, preparing me and setting the stage for me to teach my 5 children. There was a feeling of inevitability. But I also ask him often why it has to be so hard.
This is my calling as a Christian mom. To educate and grow another generation. To write His name on their hearts while giving them the tools to succeed as Christian adults in this world. But it’s hard, and humbling, and requires endless stores of patience that can only come from God Himself.
As Christians, we are both our own people and vessels for God’s purpose. This means walking a difficult path at times. It also means knowing that path is the right one, no matter how many stones we happen to trip over.
How are you living out your calling? Are you a Christian in name only, or are you ready to walk the walk of your faith?
Have a blessed Monday!
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