A Life Worthy

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…(Ephesians 2:10)

“Aha! See, Michael, I told you it’s about works!”

Well, of course it is

and

no it isn’t.

Beloved, Jesus does not love you because of what you do. That, quite frankly, is a lie from the pit of hell that will torment you if you allow it to. Please do not undo God’s loving grace over one phrase.

However,

God did not create the unique, complex, individually awesome and talented you just so you can sit and watch the world go by. He created you to do stuff.

And you probably already are.

So, here’s a thought for my friends who get caught up in the need to do more and build more and be more…which is probably most of us. This verse does not just apply to serving meals in a soup kitchen or building houses in another country or teaching children overseas–though those are all wonderful things that God may have in mind for you. This verse also applies to the kind word spoken in passing. It applies to an honest day’s work that benefits others. It applies to raising children that will follow Christ. It applies to studying hard to learn and build a God-honoring future.

Beloved, you will have epic moments, but you will have far more mundane moments.

Make them count.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:9).

Because we would.

Boast, that is.

I mean, I have been known to open a jar for my wife and then claim credit for “making dinner.”

When we apply that concept to our spiritual life, we find that it’s a very small step from, “GOD + me” to works-based religiosity, name-it-claim-it theology, self image issues, legalism, and Towers of Babel in your backyard.

No, those aren’t cell phone towers.

Anyway, God, in his infinite wisdom, made it very clear that our salvation is absolutely NOT up to us.

That’s freeing…aaaand a little frustrating,

and perfectly, thoroughly as it should be.

It’s for you, Beloved, but it’s not up to you.

Happy Thursday

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– (Ephesians 2:8).

Think of the best gift you have ever received.

Seriously…stop for a moment and think about it.

Consider the joy it gave you to open that package and see that what you had wished for and dreamed about and maybe imagined but never thought you would really have was really yours.

Grace is like that–only eversomuch more so.

Think of the best gift you have ever given.

Seriously…stop for a moment and think about it.

Consider the joy it gave you to watch one you love open that package and to see their face light up as they realized that what they had wished for and dreamed about and maybe imagined but never thought they  would really have was really theirs.

Because of you.

Giving grace is like that for God–only eversomuch more so.

Open the gift, Beloved. Everyone wins.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6-7).

So, when I read this carefully, it sounds like God is planning to use us to show how awesome and powerful his love is.

We’re his trophies.

I like this.

I used to have a few trophies, back in the day when they counted for something. Each one represented a success, a moment when I overcame the odds and the opposition to achieve victory. They brought memories of pain and toil and sweat and blisters and work and vision and anticipation and triumph and joy. I could tell you the story behind each race–whether you wanted to hear it or not.

One of these days we’ll all be at the wedding feast, doing wedding feast things, and God is going to call me up to the front and say, “Hey everybody. This is Michael. Let me tell you about this guy!” And the Lord of the Universe will share what a blithering, pathetic piece of fluff I was before his grace got hold of me and reeled me in. It won’t be at all embarrassing or shameful because we’ll be past all that nonsense, and everyone will laugh and weep and cheer and applaud God and his amazing, transforming, wonderful love.

I can’t wait.

So…if we’re trophies to show off God’s amazing goodness, aaand we are part of the Bride of Christ, does that make us trophy wives?

I gotta say, that feels a bit odd, but I’ll take it.

Happy Friday, Beloved.

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions… (Ephesians 2:5)

I like zombie movies.

Go ahead and judge. You won’t be the first; you won’t be the last.

I think one of the fascinations behind these shows is the idea that a person can exist in two states, alive and dead at the same time.

It’s morbid and gruesome and scary and even funny on the screen, and yet…

That is who we were. We walked around in a macabre mockery of life, when in reality we were dead.

In the shows, the zombies are beyond hope; the only thing to do is release them from the pretense of life and kill them for good.

Of course, these shows don’t consider God. God solves the dilemma not by destroying life, but by defeating Death.

Imagine that movie–Jesus healing the zombies.

I’d pay to see that.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.