Ephesians 5.1-14 (1)
Pray Psalm 18.1-3.
I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
Sing Psalm 18.1-3.
(St. Columba: How Sweet and Awesome)
I love You, LORD, my Strength, my Rock, my Savior and my Fort;
my God, my ever-shelt’ring Rock, You shield my trembling heart.
My Stronghold, LORD, my Saving Horn, I call to You with praise!
From those who Your salvation scorn You save us all our days.
Read Ephesians 5.1-14; meditate on verses 1 and 2.
How is Paul using “walk” here?
Preparation
1. Who are we to imitate? To Whom must we look to do that?
2. What will we become in Christ?
Meditation
Our lives become an offering and sacrifice to God, a sweet-smelling aroma, pleasing to Him, as we walk in love, following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we are imitating our Father, Who loved us so much that He sent His Son for our salvation. We must walk in love; that is, love is to define the way of all our daily life, all our relationships, roles, and responsibilities.
We do not fulfill the love that Jesus showed merely by participating in some program or other area of church life where, for a time, we act in loving ways toward God or neighbor—as in singing in a choir, teaching a class, serving in a ministry activity, and so forth. These corporate efforts are good and necessary, but they must not substitute for the daily walk of self-denial and service to others which must characterize us in all our ways.
We are to walk in love, not merely to serve in some work of love in our church or other Christian endeavor. Walking suggests steady, disciplined, purposeful, constant, and incremental progress toward a destination. Our destination is Christ Himself, to see Him more clearly (1.15-23) and to be made like Him in all our ways (4.17-32). Walking in love makes our bodies at all times vessels in which the Lord makes Himself known (2 Cor. 4.15); and it makes us those living sacrifices of worship to God that fill the spaces of our lives with the reality of the living Christ (Rom. 12.1, 2).
We are an aroma of Christ, as Christ was an aromatic offering to God—a whiff of eternal blessedness, when we imitate Him by filling all our time and activities with love.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
I am doing what I shall do, through all eternity—blessing God, praising God, adoring God, giving Him the love of my whole heart. It is our one business, my brethren, to worship Him and love Him, without thought of anything else.
(Brother Lawrence, 1691)
“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us,
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Eph. 5.1, 2).
“But love your enemies,
do good, and lend,
hoping for nothing in return;
and your reward will be great,
and you will be sons of the Most High.
For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
Therefore be merciful,
just as your Father also is merciful” (Lk. 6.35, 36).
“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justly,
to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with your God?” (Mic. 6.8).
“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another;
love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous/humble;
not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling,
but on the contrary blessing,
knowing that you were called to this,
that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Pet. 3.8, 9).
“Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill;
for the LORD our God is holy” (Ps. 99.9).
“Be holy, for I AM holy” (1 Pet. 1.16).
“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death,
that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6.4).
“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5.16).
“…walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power,
for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
giving thanks to the Father
Who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Col. 1.10-12).
Through the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8.11; Eph. 1.19, 20),
we can walk in love, walk worthily, and be the sweet-smelling aroma of Christ—to God, and to others—
that we were meant to be.
Paul did it; we can too (1 Cor. 11.1).
Reflection
1. What would you say are the most important aspects of imitating Christ?
2. Jesus is in all the Scriptures (Jn. 5.39). How can devoting more time and attention to Scripture help us in imitating Jesus?
3. How can you encourage your fellow believers to walk in love and be an aroma of Christ to God?
Resemble him especially in his love and pardoning goodness, as becomes those beloved by their heavenly Father. In Christ’s sacrifice his love triumphs, and we are to consider it fully. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ephesians 5.1, 2
Pray Psalm 18.29-36.
Pray for the Lord to guide and strengthen you throughout the day and to shine His light on and through your every word and dead.
Sing Psalm 18.29-36.
(I Am Thine: I Am Thine, O Lord, I Have Heard Thy Voice)
In Your strength, O LORD, I can leap a wall,
I can stand against the sword.
For Your way is pure, You’re a shield to all
who depend upon Your Word.
Refrain v. 49
I will thank You, thank You gracious LORD,
I will lift Your Name in praise
’til the nations hear Your saving Word
and amend their sinful ways.
Who is God but You, there’s no other Stone
where we find the strength to stand.
Let my hands and feet be for You alone
as I walk in Your commands.
Refrain
You have saved me, LORD, and Your gentleness
holds me up and makes me strong.
You enlarge my steps as You guide and bless
and preserve me all life long.
Refrain
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 are looking at the place of God’s Law in the life of the Church. Our Read Moore podcast continues working through The Gospel of the Kingdom, looking for the true Gospel of the Lord. The Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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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.
