Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Singing praise to the God of Salvation

Ephesians 5:15-20

Melvin John

St. John’s MTC,NY

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,….be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
 

This passage is taken from the broader context of Ephesians 4, 5, and 6 where Paul, in essence, is laying out a ‘Code of Conduct’ for a Christian’s daily life.  These chapters collectively emphasize on living a life worthy of our calling as Christians; highlights the qualities of love, humility, patience, gentleness (slow to anger) and unity that reflect outward (to Christians and non Christians) our identification with Christ; an explicit call for Christians to be wise (filled with heavenly wisdom) reflecting a higher standard of intellectual discernment and moral standards; to face struggles with the armor of faith and encourage one another.
Perhaps some of us live our daily lives being fully aware of what its means to live a life worth of our calling, constantly assessing ourselves against the conduct standards required, striving to be a better Christian. Perhaps some of us are aware of the standards but are not comfortable assessing ourselves against it as we do not want to face the guilt of knowing our shortfalls, preferring to live under the cover. And then there may be others who prefer to be fully ignorant and live on their own terms. It may be worthwhile pausing for a moment and reassessing  if we are living a life worthy of our calling; if the way we conduct ourselves in our personal lives and within our worshiping communities reflect the Christians’ code of conduct.
I believe that Paul embedded the call to sing and make music to the Lord within these passages to empathize that our singing is meaningless if we are not aware of our call to live a life worthy of our calling as Christians. Singing and praising God through music is a gift given to us to encourage one another, to express our joys and sorrows, to acknowledge HIS grace and seek forgiveness as we constantly strive to be a better Christian, being fully aware of our calling.

PRAYER

Lord, help us to live a life worthy of our calling as Christians. Amen.

 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

To live a life worthy of His calling, singing praises to HIS name.

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