I want to preface this little devotion by saying that I am a planner. I do not keep a paper planner, but I have a running agenda in my head of what I want to accomplish on any given day. Most days, I still have several items on that agenda that did not get accomplished when or how I planned them because life happens. Maybe I had planned to get out the door at 6:45 a.m. on a school morning but did not leave until 7 a.m. Maybe I had slated a task to complete during my planning period at school, but a student needed help during that time. All these little interruptions can frustrate me as I try to accomplish my work as a wife, a mom, and a teacher. God has had to teach me that, while these are my roles in life, they themselves are not my job or my vocation, as the Bible calls it).
Recently, I read in Ephesians 4:1-3, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Surely, I had read this passage before now because I previously had read through Ephesians and even took a class in college on Pauline epistles. However, this was the first time I really paid attention to the words walk worthy. I have pondered those words often in the last few weeks.
What does it mean to walk worthy? Worthy means “having or showing the qualities or abilities that merit recognition in a specified way.” I want to walk in a way that merits special recognition, specifically the recognition of my Savior from Whom I hope to hear the words one day, “Well done.”
I started looking further in the verse, …walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,… As I looked at that word vocation, I wondered, “What is my vocation, as far as God is concerned?” I could definitely consider my vocation to be that of a teacher in our Christian school; I hold the vocation of a mother, a wife, and a church member. However, I wondered what exactly does God consider my vocation to be?
What was Jesus’ vocation? We read in the Bible that He came to seek and to save that which is lost and that He went about doing good. We read of the miracles He performed and the parables He taught. All of these had one thing in common: they were about people! He was not just doing good in the sense of doing right; He was doing good toward people!
My vocation is not a specific task. My vocation is people. As I continued to ponder these verses, I noticed the scriptural qualifications of walking worthy, …lowliness and meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit… I observed that each one of these qualities deal with my relationship with others.
Lowly means “not having position or rank.” The spirit of lowliness is not pulling rank on people. I guess I could be lowly even if I lived in a shack by myself in the middle of the woods, but I could not really show that quality without people.
Lowliness and meekness go together. Meekness means “the quality of being quiet, gentle, and unwilling to argue or express your opinions.” Galatians 6: 1 tells us, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
The next word on the list is longsuffering. A form of this word is found in I Corinthians 13:4, Charity suffereth long, and is kind;… Longsuffering means “having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people.” It takes a purposeful effort to be kind and show patience toward those who, in our earthly minds, do not deserve it.
The word forbear means “to prevent yourself from saying or doing something, especially in a way that shows control, good judgment, or kindness to others.” Sometimes, I find it difficult to stop myself from saying something that could hurt someone else.
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace… seems to lump everything else into it. We are not trying to keep unity if we are gossiping. We cannot be unsubmissive to our leadership while also trying to keep the unity of the Spirit. We cannot have a bad attitude and expect to have the unity of the Spirit at the same time.
As we continue in our different roles, let us always remember that our spiritual vocation is not all those earthly roles in which we find ourselves. Our vocation is doing good to the people with whom we cross path while we perform our responsibilities within those roles. Let us walk worthy today of the vocation to which God has called us: the vocation of loving and serving others in His name!
by Vicki Voorhis
