Living in the Spirit
July 10, 2015

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory. –Ephesians 1:3-14

Jesus Christ has been the most important influence in my life ever since I can remember. Raised in a Christian home, I had the examples of parents who were followers of Christ. I have also been under the influence of other followers of Christ from Isaiah, who seemed to know him before he was flesh and blood, to the writers of the gospels, and, of course, a complicated relationship with the writings of our author today, Paul. I am more recently learning that everything attributed to Paul may not have been written by Paul but by one or more of his students, which may help my understanding of this complex disciple’s teachings.

It is difficult, I think for anyone, to pull back and view the landscape of God from a more objective viewpoint when one has been steeped as deeply as I have in Jesus Christ. I take for granted my perception of Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life and cannot appreciate that everyone else does not. The fact is, however, that more and more of my fellow Americans do not know this one called Christ. Many have actually turned away from knowing Christ because, I believe, he has been presented to them through the filters of his disciples, me for one, and like Paul’s students, we do not all get it right every time.

I believe it is worth our efforts to pull back and view the landscape of God more objectively as we discern with others God’s work among us particularly in the person and leadership of Jesus Christ. It will enable us to see more clearly the many facets of Christ we perhaps have missed in the past and to clean off the scum that have coated our lenses of insight distorting our perceptions of him. The result will be an enriching of our own relationship with and through him while it opens doors for new or returning seekers like Paul viewed the Ephesians in the snippet of his letter we read today.

Prayer: Lord create in me a clean heart enabling me to see you more clearly and thus share you more perfectly. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.