All of us are imprisoned by something. How we choose to live will indicate the kind of prison we have chosen.
When Paul wrote his prison epistles, he wrote with firsthand knowledge of what it meant to be imprisoned. He was kept behind bars which restricted his movement. His natural state revealed what it meant to follow Jesus. His imprisonment became a place of great freedom and revelation.
Ephesians has been described as the Alps of Paul’s writing, the high point of his discourse to the Church. After writing three chapters defining our spiritual life as people seated with Christ in eternity, in chapter four, he begins to practically apply that understanding to our spiritual lives describing how we should live.
Paul begins chapter four with the word, “Therefore.” That word means we should consider what he just wrote as we apply our faith to the issues of life.
“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”(Ephesians 4: 1-3).
Being incarcerated by God means we will not try to escape His love. We will live a life that is worthy of our calling – a calling defined by God, not our undisciplined desires or a shallow interpretation of our faith.
Our calling becomes the bars behind which we choose to live. It is a humble and gentle life that is patient with those with whom we disagree. It makes allowances for fellow believers who have not yet submitted to the imprisonment of God’s love.
This calling makes every effort to stay united in the Spirit and not try to find a way to escape God’s love to do as we please. This is only possible if we have bound ourselves to Christ’s calling for our lives – a calling that is imprisoned by the love of God and is revealed by our commitment to Jesus and His Kingdom. It is the only kind of freedom that can satisfy our soul no matter where our calling leads us.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Garris Elkins
Featured Image by John from Pixabay
