Ephesians 4:17-24
Verse 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
Knowing we are created with a purpose should give us the desire to live for that purpose. While God has specific purposes for each of us, there are things which He purposed for all His followers. As His followers one of our greatest responsibilities is to magnify Him, which is to make Him known to all. We are to live in a way which makes God’s presence look bigger to those we come into contact with.
To make Him look bigger to those around us means they can see Him by the way they see us living. Now the world would have us believe that means one thing when God really said it was something different. The world likes to paint God one way and then claim His followers aren’t living as He would, but that is because they don’t know who He really is, but do we know who He really is so we can follow Him?
Paul understood who Jesus was because he had met with Jesus. This faithful apostle had been one of the biggest opponents to the mission of Jesus and His original followers, but once Jesus revealed Himself to Paul, his heart was forever changed. Paul knew his purpose was to teach the Gentile people what it meant to love their Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. He was telling the Gentile believers in Ephesus how important it was for them to know what it meant to live as believers, it meant leaving their former ways of living.
The way Paul told them they needed to begin that process was by changing the way they think. They weren’t to think like their fellow Gentiles who had futile thoughts. As God’s followers we need to understand what it means to think as He would think. Just as with our relationships with family and friends the more we get to know them the more we know how they think about things, the more we get to know God the more we will know what He thinks.
One of the most important things we need to remember is we can learn truth about others two ways – in growing personal relationship with them and by watching their character revealed in their actions. The same is true with getting to know God and when we are living His character, we are helping others get to know Him. That is why it is so important we live as He would so people are getting an actual vision of Him.
Making It Personal
How intentional are you at getting to know God more deeply so you can be living as He would? Are you willing to make the needed changes where you haven’t been living as He would? Who needs to see Jesus in you today?
Making It Personal Kids
What do you think it means to live like Jesus? Do you live like He did? Do you know anyone who should see you living like Jesus?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for creating us for a relationship with You. Help us desire a relationship with You over any other relationship this world has to offer. Help us grow to be more like You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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