I’m having a great time this week reading Ephesians 4 in the Message translation. You heard me right – I’m having a GREAT time! I cannot believe how one chapter of scripture can be so chock full of personal application. I found message after message meant for me, and for you too, if you’re striving after a genuine walk with God.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Eugene Peterson’s “The Message“, an idiomatic translation of the Bible, is a great place to go if you want a fresh perspective on familiar passages, or if you’re afraid of the hard to read translations that keep you from reading the Bible altogether. I always recommend reading multiple translations, and you can easily do a parallel view of a passage on Bible Gateway. It’s really, really, really cool! It will bring new life to the text, I promise.
I loved this verse,
The subsequent paragraphs of Ephesians 4 enlighten us as to just HOW we can run on the road we’re called to travel.
- photo courtesy of sxc.hu @maurice 120
Watch for these roadsigns, and you will be on the way to traveling God’s road, not your own.
Use your gifts!
I often implore people to use their gifts and talents for God’s glory. Eph. 4:7 says, “Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift.”
We cannot compare the gifts of others, we cannot waste the gift we’re given, and we cannot walk when we should be running! Our abilities, talents, skills, monetary treasure, quirky giftings and vocational strengths are a gift from God. He generously gives gifts, so that we will use them to advance the Kingdom in our families, schools, jobs, ministries, neighborhoods and areas of influence. And we certainly shouldn’t bury them.
Grow up!
That is, in Christ. “No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love….” Eph. 4:14 MSG
This might sound harsh, but we would do well to heed this warning. We cannot stay stagnant in our faith. We must push ourselves to grow in the faith, by learning new things, and letting go of old habits. We become mature by following the guidelines laid out for us in God’s word, and we cannot know that Word unless we’re reading it. If we aren’t aware of the truth, we cannot defend our beliefs. If we aren’t continually learning, we fall prey to the temptations that surround us each day.
Don’t follow the crowd!
This is well said in The Message, “And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd.” Eph 4:17
There are several other places the Apostle Paul gives a similar directive, such as, Romans 12:2 which tells us not to conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but to renew our mind.
When we act, look, think, talk, and become like those around us who don’t follow God (because let’s be honest, Christians are the minority) we will not be moving any closer to God’s road. We must walk differently, act differently, speak differently, and live differently in order to show who we are in Christ.
Following His Road
We can be tempted to turn a blind eye from these prominent Godly road signs in favor of the fast food signs that lure us to the next exit. But running on the road God has in mind, requires moving steadily, humbly, and lovingly toward the great things He has in store.
Do different translations of scripture help you see things differently? How are you doing walking, or running on God’s road?