Are You Walking in a Manner Worthy of the Lord

 May 21, 2024

Tuesday

Can a Christian be worthy of the Lord? Note that I am not asking whether a Christian can be worthy of salvation. That would imply that we could be good enough to be saved. That's already impossible. That assumes we could save ourselves. God would never have let Jesus go through the terrible death He endured if salvation could have come some other way. No, Christians will never be worthy of salvation. A Christian can, however, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. How is that done?

In Paul's letter to the Colossians he says:

Colossians 1:9–10 (NASB 2020) ⁹ For this reason we also, since the day we heard about it, have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰ so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Paul remarks of the Colossians faith and love for other believers. He speaks of them being as they are because of the hope that is reserved for them in heaven. Paul prays that they will have the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and understanding. Thus, they will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. They will please Him, bear fruit and increase in their knowledge of God.

So, let's get this straight: They must first be filled with the knowledge of God's will. This is more than simply knowing God's will. We all know God's general will for many things. For example, it is God's will that we share the gospel. It is God's will that we are generous. It is God's will that we show mercy. While this is God's will, it is not knowing His will with spiritual wisdom and understanding. Spiritual wisdom and understanding is where the rubber meets the road. It brings us to act specifically for His glory. It is truly walking with the Lord rather than general obedience within our own parameters. In other words, we know and are committed to His will even if it will cost us a great deal.

This committed action pleases Him, bears fruit and increases our knowledge of Him. This is certainly different from the person who seeks to bear fruit without walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. The person simply seeking to bear fruit isn't necessarily walking with the Lord. This person sees himself as one who has orders and goes out to accomplish them. The one walking with the Lord goes as the Lord is beside him. With all spiritual wisdom and knowledge, he acts with the Spirit rather than acting on his own. He acts in the Spirit's strength which increases his knowledge of God for he knows more of the walk with the Lord. This is the walk worthy of the Lord.

Even though we may have walked in this manner before, we may not always walk that way. Many of us have seen God at work in us and others. We have known what it is to walk closely with Him. Yet, our fervent desire to see Him fades when we take our eyes off of Him and place them on the task. The task becomes more important than the walk. Thus, we are no longer walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. This is when the task is more important that knowing the Lord's presence.

If we are to walk worthy of the Lord, we must walk with the Lord. That is why we are more important to the Lord than the tasks He has given us. God seeks to bring us closer to Himself. He uses us to bring others closer to Himself. However, we must never think that this task is to be done without Him. Doing the task with Him is the definition of walking with Him.

So, are you walking with the Lord?