Ephesians 4.1-10 (2)
Pray Psalm 32.1, 2.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Sing Psalm 32.1, 2.
(Hendon: Take My Life and Let It Be)
Blessed are they whose sins the LORD has forgiven by His Word!
Pure their spirits are within; them He charges with no sin;
them He charges with no sin!
Read Ephesians 4.1-10; meditate on the word “endeavoring” or “working hard” in verse 3.
What kind of “working hard” does Paul have in mind? What should that look like?
Preparation
1. How are we as believers to comport ourselves?
2. What are we “endeavoring” to keep?
Meditation
If you have not seen the classic video, “Powers of Ten 1977” by the Eames brothers, I encourage you to do so. It’s fun and very interesting. Viewed from a Christian perspective, it can magnify your vision of God and of His infinite care for all things.
Our verses for today made me recall this video. Consider: We who are seated at the right hand of God in Jesus Christ—powers of 10 exalted—are called to be lowly, gentle, patient, and loving. Servants, in other words—powers of ten in the nitty gritty. He Who is the great Maker and Keeper of the cosmos—powers of 10 infinitely large—is also the one who strengthens us for our daily tasks as we take our places in His yoke with humility and joy—powers of 10 infinitely small.
Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace is our goal in this. Paul calls us to devote ourselves to unity because unity, more than anything we might do, reflects the divine Trinity. And without unity, our witness to the world will be less effective (cf. Jn. 17.21). Unity is good and pleasant (Ps. 133), so we should work hard to achieve and maintain it.
But realizing and maintaining unity is hard. We must work hard at it continuously in our soul—powers of ten within—and our closest relationships—powers of ten all around. It can also be hard work to maintain unity in our churches—powers of ten moving up—and with the churches in our community—up a bit more—and with all the churches in the Body of Christ—universal powers of ten.
Servanthood and unity. Those should be watchwords for us. If they are, and if we work hard at putting them to work, the powers of Jesus, large and small, will power through us in ways large and small as His Spirit works in and through us in our world.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.16
Watching Jesus keep unity within His disciple band is a thing of beauty.
He kept their eyes and hearts looking forward,
always considering the growth of God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
He kept their focus on watching and listening to Him, and
He tried to keep unity within His small group as He spoke into issues of selfishness and self-absorption.
No one would be first. No one would be waited upon. Each one was the servant of the other.
Paul used the words “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4.2, 3). And these words were some of the same words that Jesus used to describe Himself, and how He wants us to see ourselves relationally with Him and with others.
“Come to Me, all you
who labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and
learn from Me,
for I AM gentle and
lowly in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and
My burden is light” (Matt. 11.28-30).
“Behold”, says David, “how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133.1)
Unity of self, unity of family, unity of friends, unity of church participants, unity of community churches, and unity of the Church worldwide will only be possible when each individual is keeping the Law of God and is strenuously endeavoring to rein in any behaviors and thoughts that are not gentle, lowly, longsuffering, and loving. And that is a full-time job. We can never take time off, or “vacation” away from that work.
Indeed, the watchwords for living in the “bond of peace” are servanthood—servant, helper, supporter, proponent, attendant, fellow-worker, selfless, kind, self-controlled, patient—and unity.
“And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20.27, 28).
This is the way, the path to unity; we must endeavor to walk in it (Is. 30.21).
Reflection
1. What does it mean to have unity within your soul—heart, mind, and conscience?
2. How does keeping the Law of God help promote unity among believers?
3. Why must we “work hard” at unity? What’s so important about it?
We must live at peace, if we would wish that brotherly kindness should be permanent amongst us. John Calvin (1509-1564),Commentary on Ephesians 4.3
Pray Psalm 32.3-11.
Pray that God will unify your soul—heart, mind, and conscience—in Jesus and send you forth today to serve with His power all the people you meet.
Sing Psalm 32.3-11.
(Hendon: Take My Life and Let It Be)
When in silence I remained, groaning in my sinful pain,
You Your hand upon me lay; all my strength You drained away,
all my strength You drained away.
I confessed my sin to You; You forgave me, ever true!
Let confession’s pleading sound reach You while You may be found,
reach You while You may be found!
When flood waters threaten me, You my hiding place will be.
O’er them I will rise above, buoyed by Your redeeming love,
buoyed by Your redeeming love.
Teach me, LORD, how I should live; sound instruction ever give.
Let me never stubborn be; let Your eye watch over me,
let Your eye watch over me.
Though the wicked wail and weep, they rejoice whose souls You keep.
Trusting, we exult with praise, joyf’ly singing all our days,
joyf’ly singing all our days!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest this week: In our ReVision series on “The Kingdom Economy” we begin to look at what the Scriptures say about justice. This week in our Read Moore podcast we wrap up our readings from the book, To Know Jesus. Our Crosfigell teaching letter continues our study of the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
