Prayer for a Worthy Walk, XXI of ?

Prayer For A Worthy Walk

Colossians 1:9-10

"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

Our Conduct and Dealings with Others

But it is not only in the devotional side of our lives that we may give delight to

God. Different by far is the teaching of His Word. The Lord takes notice not only of our attitude toward and actions to Himself but also of our conduct and dealings with our fellowmen. We may please Him – and it should be our diligent aim to do so – in the shop, home, factory, office. ‘A false balance is an abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight’ (Prov. 11:1). Under that word balance we are to include all weights and measures, descriptions of articles, and profits from them. Such a verse as that should be carefully pondered and kept constantly in mind by all who are engaged in any form of business, whether they are employers or employees, weighing all their words and deeds. To misrepresent a piece of merchandise, to overcharge, or to deliberately short-change a customer, is a grievous sin. Though it may escape the notice of men, it is recorded against us by the Holy One, and we shall be made to pay dearly for the same. Contrariwise, to be fair and honest in our trading is pleasing to God: ‘Such as are upright in their way are his delight’ (Prov. 11:20).

God Refuses the Homage of the Unjust

Not only does God take notice of and record the sins of those who are guilty of unjust and fraudulent practices but He refuses their hypocritical homage. There is no bribing of the divine Judge, nor can He be imposed upon by a pious demeanour in those who wrong their fellows. They who grind the faces of the poor through the week and, equally, those who fail to supply a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay only mock the Lord when they sing His praises and make an offering to His cause on the Sabbath day. ‘The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight’ (Prov. 15:8). The external acts of worship of those whose business dealings are corrupt are an offence to the Most High, and it is the sacred duty of pastors to announce it. ‘He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law [which enjoins loving our neighbour as ourself], even his prayer shall be abomination’ (Prov. 28:9). We do but deceive ourselves if we imagine God hearkens to our petitions while our everyday lives betray our devotions. On the other hand, ‘the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth [favourably] behold the upright’ (Psa. 11:7). Everything we do either pleases or displeases God.

To walk worthily means to conduct ourselves becomingly, to act agreeably to the Name we bear, to live as those who are not their own. To walk ‘worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing’ is to be uniformly and universally obedient, taking no step without the warrant of God’s Word, seeking His approbation and honour in every department and aspect of our lives. ‘Being fruitful in every good work’ is a further extension of the same thought, evincing again how high and holy is the standard at which we should aim continually. Grace is no enemy to good works; it is the promoter and enabler of them. It is utterly vain for us to speak and sing of the wonders of divine grace if we are not plainly exhibiting its lovely fruits. Grace is a principle of operation, a spiritual energizer which causes its possessor to be active in good works and makes him a fruitful branch of the Vine. It is the empty professor who is viewed as a barren tree, a cumberer of the ground. By the miracle of regeneration God makes His people ‘good trees’ and they bear good fruit.’ It is their privilege and duty to be ‘fruitful in every good work’, and in order to do so they must constantly endeavour to ‘walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing’.