Good morning everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Great thoughts from great Christians”
Our Bible verse for today: “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Ephesians 4:1 (CSB)
Our thought for today: “Live a life worthy of your calling”
Yesterday we read a great challenge issued by the pastor and author John Wesley in the 1700s to do all the good we can, to all the people we can, in all the ways that we can, for as long as we can. More than 250 years later another Christian author said essentially the same thing in a slightly different way. In his book “The Jesus Touch” Dr. Lynn Anderson wrote,
“God, who is in the people business, has also called us to people-centered living. Thus, the most godlike thing we can do is to treat people like Jesus did.”
That’s what Paul was calling us to in Ephesians 4:1 (above), people-centered living – a life that honors God and blesses others. This was so important to Paul that he repeated it numerous times in different letters. In Philippians 1:27 he said, “You must live in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ, as citizens of heaven.” In Colossians 1:10 he said it like this, “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way …” And in 1 Thessalonians 2:12 he reminded the Thessalonian Christians (and us), “We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy …”
Often, when we read a statement like “Live a life worthy of your calling”, we think about things like prayer and Bible reading, faithful attendance at church, minding our p’s and q’s and being careful not to sin. All of that certainly is part of our calling but as Lynn Anderson so aptly reminds us, being like Jesus means being people-centered. Jesus called us to be on-mission with Him in the world blessing people in His name, ministering to their needs, and sharing the Good News of the Gospel with them. We are to be Acts 1:8 people. That’s the life we have been called to – being on-mission with Jesus out in the world interacting with people, blessing them, and leading them to faith in Christ. People-centered living. Christlike living.
The most godlike thing you will do today is when you treat others the way Jesus would treat them. What a different world this would be if all the Christians were more Christlike. I encourage you to be more Christlike today. It’s the life you were called to.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 