Ephesians 4:1-2
I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love.
In writing this reflection, I found it interesting that Paul calls himself, "a prisoner for the Lord." Why do you think he used that word? Could he have used 'slave'? The Paul's letter to the Ephesians is what is considered part of the "Captivity Epistles", in which this letter was written while Paul was incarcerated for his preaching. Paul, as a prisoner, must do what his captors say. He has no choice. As a Christian he identifies himself as a prisoner for the Lord in that he is compelled to do what God asks of him; there is no other option.
Paul urges all of us to be prisoners for the Lord, by using every gift and talent God has given us in order to answer his call for our lives. We accept this calling without boasting or haughtiness, but instead accept it with humility and patience. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what God wants us to do, what he's calling us to do. But with time, prayer, surrendering yourself to God and his outpouring of grace and mercy, he will show you the way.
As a side note, we often judge prisoners harshly, looking down on them with contempt. During the bagging of sandbags in preparation for the hurricane, some prisoners were there helping people bag up. They were working hard, but had a happy countenance and were very nice, polite fellas. Despite what they did to get them in trouble, they carried themselves in a Christian manner. It was good to see, in fact, a good witness.
