MONDAY, APRIL 11
READ EPHESIANS 2:1-7
EPHESIANS 2:1 You used to be dead because of your sins and acts of disobedience. 2 You walked in the ways of the ‘olam hazeh and obeyed the Ruler of the Powers of the Air, who is still at work among the disobedient. 3 Indeed, we all once lived this way — we followed the passions of our old nature and obeyed the wishes of our old nature and our own thoughts. In our natural condition we were headed for God’s wrath, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy and loves us with such intense love 5 that, even when we were dead because of our acts of disobedience, he brought us to life along with the Messiah — it is by grace that you have been delivered. 6 That is, God raised us up with the Messiah Yeshua and seated us with him in heaven, 7 in order to exhibit in the ages to come how infinitely rich is his grace, how great is his kindness toward us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua.
As we say in the Baptist church where I grew up, I walked the aisle when I was eleven years old, some five decades ago. Vacation Bible school was in session. Our church building was a sanctuary in more ways than one. The massive brick structure offered not just a place to teach kids about Jesus; the ground-level classrooms were the coolest refuge in town. Going forward was not hard. For a preteen, it felt momentous, something that would change my life forever. I walked forward at the invitation and confided my decision to the preacher.Salvation is a word we may associate with spiritual revivals. Ephesians addresses God’s saving activity in Christ. The first three verses state what we’re saved from: death through sin, following the ways of the world, and being children of wrath. The writer is not chastising so much as reminding us of the past so that we can more readily value our inclusion in God’s life-giving story of salvation in the present!
At eleven, my life-changing commitment didn’t hinge on turning from my past “sins,” but in the ensuing years it raised weighty questions about how to be a Christian. Many times I wanted to abandon that statement of faith, but the commitment I made then has ended up making me. It has never turned me loose, though my understanding of what it means has changed as I have matured.
I have come to appreciate the richness of God’s mercy and kindness. I value God’s willingness to take the initiative for my benefit and salvation. I am “alive together with Christ.” With that promise, I try to meet each moment with hope.
O God, hear me, strengthen me; let me hear you. Amen.[Bill Dockery]
Our mailing address is:
Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007
Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
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