To live worthy of the Lord means to live a life that is pleasing to God, bearing good fruit, and growing in the knowledge of God.
This is very clear in Apostle Paul’s prayer in his letter to the Colossians.
For this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:9-14 NKJV
I chose this topic for this blog post because this is the main focus for this LIVE blog category. However, instead of writing my thoughts, I thought it better to write an excerpt of a message of Pastor Ferdie Cabiling from the Bishops Council of Victory (Philippines) in a video published on July 28, 2021.
According to him, “the way we live is based on how we know God as revealed through the gospel. Growing in our knowledge of Him leads us to an understanding of His will and a changed life.”
Video message excerpt and transcript
10:05. “And [Paul] says you’ve got to know Christ’s will instead. And not only that you be filled with His knowledge. Then my point is in verse 10. Verse 10 is the center of all the entire chapter one of Colossians. This is what he says,
… so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord…. Colossians 1:10.
In other words, unlike Gnostics, it’s all about knowledge and having access to this knowledge, but the Apostle Paul, it’s not just about gaining knowledge, being filled with His wisdom, but for you to walk it out and live it out. That’s what he’s saying, that we have to live out our Christianity.
And there are three aspects here that I’d like you to see that he has mentioned as seen to be in the verse.”
The first way to live worthy of the Lord
“The first aspect that he’s talking in verse 10, he says walking in the manner fully pleasing to the Lord.
… so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him …. Colossians 1:10.
What is that type of walk or life being lived out here on earth? It should be a life pleasing to God. That’s number one: pleasing to God, a life pleasing. In other words, you are experiencing the transforming power of the gospel. It’s not just a talk; it’s not just a religion; it’s not something you do; it’s not just liturgical; it is practical. You are able to live it out. And people see and are amazed that truly you are a man that fears the Lord, because your heart is to please the Lord. They see the transformation in your life.”
The second way to live worthy of the Lord
12: 15. “Second, when we say we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, it’s not just a life pleasing to the Lord, but a life that is bearing fruit, a life that is bearing fruit, now whether it’s moral fruit, whether it is good works, helping others. We have a lot of opportunities to express bearing fruit at this season. Just make sure you have face mask and face shields, but you are given a chance to express that and have the fruit of this life.
You know, fruit is supposed to be the effect of an overwhelming substance of life in your inner being that you can’t even contain it. That fruit would just come out of you, whether in your words, whether in the way you relate with others in your relationships, and whether in good works and letting people experience the love of God through good works.”
The third way to live worthy of the Lord
“And that is very crucial for people to see that truly you’re working or you’re living or walking out a transformed life—a life that’s pleasing to God, a life that’s bearing fruit, and the last one is a life that’s continuing to grow, that you are continually growing.
A lot of people, they’ve accomplished something and that’s it. You know we have a saying in ultramarathon world. You run a marathon or you run an ultramarathon and brag forever. That’s a saying in our world where you run a marathon and that’s it. You brag to people that you’ve run a 42K but that’s not in Christian life.
In Christian life, you don’t sit around your laurels. You don’t sit around with all your medals. God wants us to continue on even at a point of saying goodbye to our loved ones, continually not just pleasing to the Lord and bearing fruit but growing in the knowledge of God. We’re not going to get stuck.”
The call to Christians in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic
“How many people during this pandemic … more than a year now, a year and a half, have been stuck spiritually? They got stuck to Netflix. The next day, they couldn’t even read their Bibles anymore, not one day, weeks, months.
I’m calling forth right now each one of you who’ve been listening to this and you got stuck. Continue to grow in your knowledge of God. Get in touch with this book right here on a daily basis. Get your notebook, get a pen, Mongol #1, and write down what the Lord has been speaking to you. Let the Holy Spirit of God move in and through you. And by the end of this pandemic, you’d be so on fire more than ever before. Continue to grow.
So the prayer of Apostle Paul is the same prayer that we want to have for each and every one of us—that we will not just be filled with knowledge against Gnosticism, but not just getting filled, but walking it out in order for us to continue to express a life pleasing to the Lord, bearing fruit in every good way, and people see a continuous growth in our lives. We pursue learning; we pursue Christ on a daily basis.”
You might say, “I thought I am worthy of life no matter who I am and what I have done.” You’re right, but shouldn’t we live a life worthy of the Lord who gave us this precious life?