How is your Walk?

How is your Walk?

Words of Faith 2-23-2021

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2021

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

www.faithfellowshipweb.com

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Ephesians 4

     [1] As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  

     How is your walk? These days, people are walking a lot.  There are power walkers, racing walkers, dog walkers, and casual walkers.  You might hear this question and respond by talking about the weather or the hills, or the terrain. But that is not what this question is really asking.  

     It is popular to ask this question in modern Christian circles.  It may relieve you a bit to learn that this term is not just some trendy way to talk, but actually is rooted in Scripture and is very much part of one of the most important passages on the meaning of church life. This chapter is about your walk.

     The word that the Holy Spirit chose here does not mean our physical stride or gait. It does not even specifically address the ambulatory.  The word Paul wrote to describe the way that we live is peripateo.  It means to walk or occupy, tread all around, walk at large, and live, deport oneself, follow as a companion, or be occupied with. 

     When we consider our "walk," we are concerned with how we live our lives with Jesus.  Paul was speaking of how we occupy the Christian life and raises the question of whether we walk in a manner or deportment that is worthy of the calling we have received.

     You might respond that you have not been "called," and this could be true.  But if you claim Christ as your Savior, it is not without His having called you to himself.  So, the question cannot be avoided for the believer: Are you walking in a manner or deportment worthy of that calling?

     That word "worthy" is an important one, too, and one we don't want to misunderstand.  Paul could not have been more emphatic than in chapter 2, where he declared the truth of God that we are saved by grace through faith, and this is not of ourselves.  It is the gift of God.  We cannot be worthy of the calling.

     So how can we live or walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling? 

    The Holy Spirit breathed a special word upon Paul’s heart and pen, axiōs.  It actually means "after a godly sort" or "appropriately."  Axios is something that follows after.  It is not our walk that makes us worthy but the work of Christ that does so.  Our deportment and conduct follow after.  The way we occupy life should reflect the worthiness that has been conveyed upon us by the work of Jesus. 

     So, if we are to occupy all of life in a manner that reflects the worthiness Christ has conveyed, we might ask some of those questions referred to in the previous chapter.  Do the things I say and do reflect appropriately on Christ. Is the way I occupy my family and my job something that is "after a Godly sort"?  Do my interactions and responsibility reflect the work that Christ has done for me and in me? 

      Father God, thank You for conveying worth upon me by Your creation and redemption.  Help me now, by Your Spirit and Word, to be empowered to walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling You have put upon my life.  In Jesus' Name. 

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2010, 2021

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)       

2820 Business Center Blvd.

Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.