Called by God’s faithful love to live out that love
Daily Scripture
Ephesians 2:1-10
1 At one time you were like a dead person because of the things you did wrong and your offenses against God. 2 You used to live like people of this world. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. This is the spirit of disobedience to God’s will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by disobedience. 3 At one time you were like those persons. All of you used to do whatever felt good and whatever you thought you wanted so that you were children headed for punishment just like everyone else.
4-5 However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God’s grace! 6 And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. 7 God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus.
8 You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith [or through his faithfulness]. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. 9 It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. 10 Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
God’s free grace, offered to all, is a gift we do not earn, and never could. But genuinely accepting that gift of grace changes us. The apostle Paul, as passionate a preacher of God’s saving grace as ever lived, wrote that when we accept that grace, we live as “God’s accomplishment [Greek poema, meaning “artistry” or “handiwork”], created in Christ Jesus to do good things.” He believed it was important for Christians (in Ephesus, and everywhere) to understand that the significant changes in their lives (cf. Acts 19:18-20) were not something they had accomplished just by tapping into their own inherent goodness. They were God’s accomplishment, living out the kind of life God desired them to live.
- John Wesley used the idea that we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good things” in the Second General Rule of the Methodist Church: “By doing good; by being in every kind merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and, as far as possible, to all men.” Does the phrase “doing good of every possible sort” spark your imagination? What are one or two “sorts” of goodness you formerly didn’t practice, but do now as a Christ follower? How open are you to letting God keep shaping the way you live even the “secular” parts of your life—driving, shopping, business activities, playing and watching sports, and the like? What is your life purpose? (You have one, even if you think you don’t. You make daily choices based on an inner vision of who you are and what you’re here for.) God has a purpose for your life. Spend some quiet time today comparing your current life patterns with what Ephesians 2:10 says about God’s intention.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of your saving, transforming grace. Guide me as I seek to live into the reality of the good things you’ve created (and re-created) me to do. Amen.
GPS Insights
Hailey Biswell
I think God has a plan for everyone, including me. God shows me His grace and presence every day when I wake up, throughout the day till I fall asleep. No matter what I’m doing during the day or the struggles that come my way, my church family is always there as my support. I could never continue without them.
Sometimes, like any other person, I have doubts. But somehow, in some way, God always shows me He still cares and His grace is still there for me, even when I feel I don’t deserve it. I’m so thankful to have found my faith and to always have it to lean on.
