– Scripture:
It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
Ephesians 2:1–10 MSG
– Reflection:
He Tore Down The Wall
The passage focused on the realities of sin and how it has a way of keeping us trapped in the world as it is. Today’s passage marks a turn from that reality, representing God’s amazing grace that frees us from a destiny defined by death. The present is today! By grace, you ARE saved. This IS not your own doing! It IS a gift from God! Grace defines us today. Grace frees us to the possibilities of a new tomorrow. We are saved from yesterday to live in grace today, which gives us hope for tomorrow. That is the formula of faith we find in Ephesians 2. May that grace free you today to live in that peace that passes all understanding, with hope for God’s new day tomorrow.
Where do we go from here?
Let’s remember the message that Jesus has left for us. He died for all of us on that cross so the least we can do is follow his example in how to live our lives. Anyone who has read my previous writings knows that following our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the only way to succeed. Any other path is a waste of time. Yes, there are criticisms and attempts to poke holes in the word that was left over two thousand years ago. Individuality is a hot topic right now. I understand that everyone wants recognition for their work. But let me ask you this: Did Jesus get recognition? No, he didn’t, but he still saved our lives. He has asked nothing of us but to follow the roadmap he left for us all those years ago.
Our Prayer for Today
For the breath we have just taken, and the one that, by your grace, we are about to receive, we thank you, Father. Life itself is grace, and so we stand in the grace of this present moment that you give us. Free us from any past that holds us captive so that we might live in the hope of the new humanity your Word promises for us all. Amen.