READING: Ephesians 1-6
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: Several years ago, I was a volunteer firefighter doing training in all of my gear. My wife, Pam, came to the training to watch as we burned down a dilapidated building and gained firefighting experience at the same time. As far as I could tell, all of our team looked remarkably alike in our gear, including air masks that covered our faces — but Pam later told me she could always pick me out. When I asked her how she knew me, here’s what she said, “I know you by your walk.” She had watched my walk — literally — for years, and she knew me by my stride.
The apostle Paul said something like that centuries before in his letter to the believers in the area of Ephesus. He expected them to conduct themselves differently than the world. Using wording translated as “walk,” he called the Ephesians to illustrate their commitment to Jesus by the way they lived:
Eph. 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received.
Eph. 4:17 You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts.
Eph. 5:2 And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
Eph. 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
Eph. 5:16-17 Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
The bottom line is this: as followers of Jesus, we are to walk differently. God has called us to Him, so we’re not to walk in darkness like the pagans do. Our conduct is to be marked by love, and nothing in our life is to be hidden in the darkness. Indeed, we are to monitor our lives, making godly choices to walk rightly.
After all, the world around us will recognize us by the way we walk.
ACTION STEPS: Under the leadership of the Spirit, review your life to discover any places where your walk — that is, your conduct — doesn’t reflect Christ. If you discover areas, pay careful attention to repenting.
PRAYER: “God, help me to live in the light today. I don’t want to waste my time walking in the darkness. May others know me by the way I walk in Your footsteps.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Philippians 1-4
