...follow Christ!...

“1 I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: 4 there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it is said,“When He ascended on high, He made captivity itself a captive; He gave gifts to His people” Ephesians 4:1-8.

Here Paul is giving us the fundamentals of living the Christian life. There are three fundamental things about living the Christian life: (1) the meaning of our calling to follow Christ; (2) the grace which has equipped each of us to play our part in serving Him; (3) and the unity of both the meaning of our calling and the grace of God, both of which we must make every effort to guard.

For Paul, the meaning of our calling is the most important thing of all, and here Paul means the calling of the Gospel to believe in Christ and to follow Him completely. And here, Paul wishes us to place our hope in Christ alone and to follow Him completely. And when Paul speaks of unity in our calling, it is to see all people being brought together to follow the Gospel of Christ. Too often we focus on our differences, when Paul sees all people of God called to follow Christ. That is the unity that compels Paul. He doesn’t think of denominational differences — just following the Gospel of Christ!

The Paul concludes by saying that “each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift” — which is His Holy Spirit! but the key, for Paul, is that each of us was given the grace of God, Jesus Christ!

So, everyone in the world has been given the grace of God. We must, then, follow Christ completely.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, You gave all of us Your Son, Jesus Christ!

Your Spirit is the source of our goodness

and the source of our world flourishing and living together in peace.

May our hearts feel your presence and see you in everyone.

Help us to lean on Your grace this day.

Let us not be overwhelmed, but instead work with You

to protect and enliven Your Kingdom here on earth.

We pray this through Christ, Our Lord, amen.

From the Bible:

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” Matthew 16:24.

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” 1 Peter 2:21.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” John 8:12.

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” 1 John 2:3-4.