An old wooden chest
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world (Ephesians 2:1-2)
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul has three great themes sitting, walking and standing. He uses these words as metaphors for our position in Christ in heaven, our daily lives as Christians and our witness in the world. In the first three chapters Paul writes about God’s will, God’s work and God’s wisdom. Then in the last three chapters he writes about the believers walk, witness and warfare. The Spirit of God weaves these thoughts together, like the beautiful colours used in the Tabernacle.
I would like to reflect on the Christian’s walk. Paul writes first about how we used to walk “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).
There was an eminent Chinese official whom the emperor valued immensely. But his fellow officials were jealous of the servant’s status. And, as in the story of Daniel, they planned his downfall. The only thing they could find unusual about his behaviour was that every day he would go to a secret room in his house. They reported this to the emperor, suggesting the official was planning a coup. The emperor demanded to go to the room along with the members of his government. The faithful servant led the monarch and the people with him into an empty room. In the centre of the room was an old wooden chest. The emperor instructed the man to unlock and open the chest. Inside the chest were some ragged, dirty clothes. The emperor asked his official what the room, the chest and rags meant. The official told him that every day he came into the room and opened the chest, to remember that he was the son of poverty-stricken peasants and to be thankful that he now served his emperor.
Paul never lost the deep sense of how far away from God he had been. And as we know, he progressively describes himself as the least amongst of the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:9), then less than the least amongst all the people of God (Ephesians 3:8) and finally, the chief amongst sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). We like to compare these thoughts with his description of his meeting with the Lord Jesus when “a light shone around him from heaven” (Acts 9:3), “a great light from heaven shone around me” (Acts 22:6) and “a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me” (Acts 26:13).
Paul goes on to speak to the Ephesians about: walking in good works (Ephesians 2:10), walking worthy of the calling (4:1), walking in love (5:2), walking as children of light (5:8) and walking in wisdom (5:15). But he begins by reminding us from where “God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us” raised us up to make us “sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (2:4-6). Such love bows our hearts in worship and empowers us to walk humbly with our God (see Micah 6:8).
