The Lord’s Prisoner

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called….

Ephesians 4:1

Paul was a single-purposed individual.  His statement of this was, ‘For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.’  He was prepared to pursue this purpose to its’ logical conclusion, whatever that was and wherever it took him.  As the result of that mindset, he was in prison as he wrote to the Ephesians.  He would not have been in prison had he been willing to cease his teaching and preaching of Jesus Christ.  He accepted the commission of preaching Christ, was not ashamed of his conduct, nor the consequences of it.  Therefore, in our text for today, Paul addressed the Ephesians as, ‘the prisoner of the Lord.’  There is a cost for following Christ.  According to Paul, in another place, ‘All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.’ In Paul’s case this persecution took the form of imprisonment and finally, martyrdom.  We should be clear in our own understanding of the logical consequences of following Christ.  Knowing that we will suffer at some level gives us opportunity to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually for whatever comes.  We are part of a great company of those who have accepted the consequences of following Christ.  Christ upheld them, and will uphold us.  Jesus never fails.

Our Holy and Wise God,
we rejoice that You have appointed our path for us.
We praise You that You will uphold us,
all along the way, as we seek to make Christ known.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning