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Ephesians 1-2


Every morning when I awake, I am amazed at the blessings that God has bestowed upon me because of nothing I have deserved.  I did not choose to be born in the 20th century or to be born in America.  I did not know that I would be the third of four children born in a suburb of Philadelphia or that my parents would be earnest Christians who loved the Lord deeply and passed on their faith.  I didn’t get to choose what church I would be raised in or the subjects I would excel in or talents I would draw upon.  All of these things were fore-ordained in God’s will for me. 

Ephesians 1:3-5 states, God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.”  He chose us “that we should be holy and blameless before him.”  It makes me marvel at this incredible God who would choose someone like me out of all the amazing people he has created to be his adopted child and to set me apart and see me as blameless!  Only through the immeasurable riches and kindness of his glorious grace could we be saved!

God could have chosen for us to be Christians during the persecution of the early Church, or to live in Italy during the Black Death in the 1300’s which wiped out 200 million people, half of Europe.  We could have lived during World War 2 as Jews in Poland where 3 million were killed, or even be living today in Swaziland where 27% of the people are HIV positive. HIV has taken the lives of 35 million people in the last 20 years.

Our lives and our salvation are not a result of our goodness or our accomplishments.  They are gifts of God’s grace.  Everything I have and am is a gift from God, not a result of my own hard work.  Every loving deed I do or kind action I perform is preplanned by God.  As Ephesians 2:10 states, “…we are his workmanship (lit.- fabric), created (fabricated) in Christ Jesus for good works (or deeds), which God prepared beforehand (fit us up for in advance), that we should walk (walk at large or live or follow) in them.” 

So as you face today, what good works has God prepared for you, and only you, to do that will  bring him glory?

Beth Thompson

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