Paul writes this verse from a prison cell, yet his heart is outside those walls. He reminds us that our lives are not random; we’ve been given a calling in Christ that is far greater than our comfort, preferences, or plans. He urges us to let the way we live match the greatness of what God has done for us. Today is an invitation to look honestly at our walk and ask, “Does my life look like someone who belongs to Jesus?”

A Higher Calling Than Comfort

Ephesians 4:1 says, “As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received.” Think about that: Paul is literally in chains, yet he’s not mainly concerned about getting out—he’s concerned about believers living up to their calling. Your true identity isn’t built on your job, your successes, or your failures; it’s built on the fact that God has called you to Himself in Christ. Romans 12:1 echoes this: “Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” The call is costly, but it’s rooted in mercy.

When we forget this calling, we shrink our Christian life down to “getting by” and “feeling okay.” But God’s purpose is far bigger. He has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9), not so you can coast, but so you can reflect His character in a dark world. Walking worthy doesn’t mean earning God’s love; it means responding to the love you already have. It’s living in such a way that your choices, words, and priorities say, “Jesus really is worth everything to me.”

Walking Worthy in the Ordinary

We often imagine “calling” as something dramatic—mission trips, big ministries, life-changing decisions. But Ephesians 4 will go on to describe humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing with one another in love. That’s where walking worthy shows up: in how you respond when you’re overlooked, how you speak when you’re frustrated, how you treat people who are difficult to love. Colossians 1:10 says, “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.” Worthy walking is deeply practical.

Your home, your workplace, your church hallway—these are the places where your calling gets tested and proved. When you choose forgiveness over resentment, truth over compromise, purity over temptation, you are quietly declaring that you belong to Another. Philippians 1:27 says, “Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” The gospel you believe should shape the tone of your voice, the content you consume, the way you spend your time. Ordinary moments become holy ground when you see them as part of walking worthy of the One who saved you.

Remembering Whose Prisoner You Are

Paul calls himself “a prisoner in the Lord.” That’s striking. Rome held the key to his chains, but Paul insisted he belonged to Christ. That perspective changes everything. When life feels confining—circumstances you didn’t choose, responsibilities that weigh you down—you can remember that you, too, are “in the Lord.” You are not a prisoner of your situation; you are a servant of your Savior. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.” You are owned by love, not by hardship.

Seeing yourself as belonging to Christ frees you to obey Him even when it’s hard. It’s why you can say yes to holiness when temptation screams, no to bitterness when hurt feels justified, yes to obedience when it costs your reputation. John 14:15 is simple and searching: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Knowing whose you are fuels how you walk. You’re not trying to impress God; you’re living as one who’s already been claimed, cleansed, and called. The chains of sin are broken—so now, gladly, you live as Christ’s willing “prisoner,” bound to Him in love and loyalty.

Lord Jesus, thank You for calling me to Yourself and giving me a new life. Today, help me walk in a manner worthy of that calling in every word, choice, and attitude. Amen.

Holy men of soberer and quieter times than ours knew well the power of silence. David said, I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me; while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue. There is a tip here for God's modern prophets. The heart seldom gets hot while the mouth is open. A closed mouth before God and a silent heart are indispensable for the reception of certain kinds of truth. No man is qualified to speak who has not first listened. It might well be a wonderful revelation to some Christians if they were to get completely quiet for a short time, long enough, let us say, to get acquainted with their own souls, and to listen in the silence for the deep voice of the Eternal God. The experience, if repeated often enough, would do more to cure our ulcers than all the pills that ever rolled across a desk.

I will put My law in their inward parts and in their heart will I write it, - Jeremiah 31:33

I will put My laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I write them, - Hebrews 8:10

It seems to me that the two clauses in each of these passages are not precisely parallel, but parallel with a difference. I take it that "mind" here means very much what we make it mean in our popular phraseology - a kind of synonym for the understanding, or the intellectual part of a man’s nature; and that " heart," on the other hand, means something a little wider than it does in our popular phraseology, and indicates not only the affections, but the centre of personality in the human will as well as the seat of love. So these two clauses will mean, you see, if we carry that distinction with us, two things - the clear perception of the will of God and the coincidence of that will with our inclinations and desires. In men’s natural consciences there is the law written on their minds; but, alas! we all know that there is an awful chasm between perception and inclination, and that it is one thing to know our duty and quite another to wish to do it. So the heart of this great promise is that these two things shall coincide in a Christian man, shall cover precisely the same ground, as two of Euclid’s triangles, with the same angles, will, if laid upon each other, coincide line for line and angle for angle. Thus it is possible - and, if we observe the conditions, it shall be actual in us - that knowledge and will shall cover absolutely and exactly the same ground. Inclination shall be duty, and duty shall be inclination and delight.

And how is that wonderful change upon men to be accomplished? " I will put, I will write." Only He can do it. We all know, by our own experience, the schism that gapes between the two things. Every man in the world knows a vast deal more of duty than any man in the world does. The worst of us has a standard that rebukes his evil, and the best of us has a standard that transcends his goodness, and, alas! often transcends his inclination. But the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour comes armed with sufficient power to make this miracle an actuality for us all; for it comes to substitute for all other motives to obedience the one motive of love. They but half understand the Gospel who dwell upon its sanctions of reward and punishment, and would seek to frighten men into goodness; and they misinterpret it almost as much who find the chief motive for Christian obedience in the glories of the heavenly state. The Gospel appeals to men, not merely nor chiefly on the ground of self-interest, but it comes to them with one appeal, " If ye love Me, keep My commandments" That is how the law is written on the heart. Wherever there is love, there is a supreme delight in divining and in satisfying the wish and will of the Beloved. His lightest word is law to the loving heart; His looks are spells and commandments. And if it is so in regard of our poor, imperfect human loves, how infinitely more so is it where the heart is touched by true affection for His own infinite love’s sake, of that "Jesus" who is "most desired"! The secret of Christian morality is that duty is changed into choice, because love is made the motive for obedience.