4:1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
We have been called to a calling. That is right! You have a job to do, a job given to you by God, with the equipping He is providing. Your life has significance. You are of value. You count. You! Now if you said “yes, but…” to those statements it is probably because you are not living up to the potential God has called you to. Perhaps sin is keeping you from fully engaging with God. God wants you to live in His presence and all you do is make an occasional visit looking through His window. You are living the life of a visitor from a distant land rather than an heir of His treasure. When we don’t live in line with who we are according to the Scriptures, then we are living a life that is not worthy of the calling we have received. If we think we are domesticated farm animals, we never even think there is a possibility of our moving into the owner’s house. But if we think we are the owner’s child, then we feel free to enter the house. We live a life that shows who we are because we are a child of God. We don’t live a certain life in order to become a child; we are a child and therefore live the life. But unfortunately, many of us have never really understood what grace is. We can’t grasp the concept that God would accept us fully not based on what we do, but on who He is. His character is one of grace, one that reaches out and does what we could never do, one that bridged the gap created by our sin by paying the penalty for that sin. Will we ever deserve it? Of course not! But in spite of that, He still did it for us. From an earthly perspective here are several quick illustrations to help make my point. You are the richest person on earth, live like it. You are the wisest person, use your wisdom. You are ruler of all nations, exercise your authority. Spend your wealth, answer people’s questions, and make great decisions. If these three things were really true of you then I can almost bet that your living would change. You would either live better than you do right now or you would ignore who you are and not change. Well, God has called you His child with all the spiritual wealth, wisdom and authority connected with family membership. Live like it! That is a life worthy of the calling. Live every moment in recognition of your family membership. Reflect in your actions that you belong to God.
The Arnold Journey 