Walking Worthy
Lola flung her backpack into the car and slammed the door behind her. With a snort, she folded her arms across her chest and scrunched her face into a furious scowl.
Silently, Dad navigated out of the primary school parking lot and eased into traffic headed towards their home in the Ikoyi suburb of Lagos, Nigeria. “Rough day?” He asked finally, meeting Lola’s eyes through the rearview mirror.
“It was horrible!” Lola exploded. “Mrs. Coker made me class captain, but then embarrassed me in front of the whole class by saying I wasn’t acting like one and that Ronke should take my place. I hate her and I’m never going back to school!”
“That does sound rough,” Dad agreed. “Why did she do that?”
“Well,” Lola hesitated. “All I did was read a note Dami passed me. It was really funny and we were laughing when Mrs. Coker came back to the class.”
“What were you supposed to be doing?” Dad asked.
“She gave us an assignment,” Lola replied. “But I was already done, and she didn’t even look at my work!”
“Hmm,” Dad said thoughtfully. “This reminds me of a Bible verse in Ephesians, where Paul encourages believers to walk worthy of the calling with which we are called.”
“What does that mean?” Lola asked.
“Paul wrote to believers in Ephesus, reminding them that God had called them to be His people and representatives in the world. He encouraged them to walk or live in a way that would honor God and the high calling.”
“Oh,” Lola said.
“Being called or chosen to be class captain is quite an honor,” Dad continued. “I’m sure Mrs. Coker picked you because she believed you would act in a way that would set an example to the rest of the class and show them why you were chosen.”
“But I didn’t,” Lola said quietly.
“Not today,” Dad said, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t do so tomorrow, or the day after.”
“I’ll have to go back to school for that to happen,” Lola grinned. “Then I’ll be the worthiest class captain ever!”
Reference Text: Ephesians 4:1-6
Image:
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