10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
Paul prays that we would be filled with the knowledge of His will. We all need more knowledge of God’s will. The knowledge comes when God does His work in us and we are obedient to what we know. Knowledge must lead to obedience or that knowledge becomes a means of death. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day knew the Scriptures, and yet they rejected Jesus and the ministry of the Apostles. Paul himself rejected Jesus’ work at the beginning. He had the head knowledge. It wasn’t until he experienced for himself that he turned toward rather than fighting against Jesus. Head knowledge is not enough. We must have the personal experience of walking out the Truth in our lives. When that happens we truly understand. The reason for Paul’s prayer was this. We are supposed to live a life worthy of the Lord. Our lives should be filled with the holiness of God. Ours should be a life of obedience and surrender. A worthy life is one lived in a way that demonstrates the great price paid for it. The movie Les Miserables is a fantastic example of this kind of obedient life. It is a movie that shows grace lived out in daily life. When we live that way, we please God. We have a fruitful life of good works. And as a result, we personally grow in our knowledge of Him. Paul wants us to experience the Lord working in our lives and through us meet the needs of this hurting world. More and more our focus becomes serving others, and in the process our needs are met.
The Arnold Journey 