January 3, 2024

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4.1-6)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

What call have we received as Paul spoke the same to the faith in Christ community of Ephesus? Is it not the call and invitation to be as one in the community of faith to be one people in the body of Christ? And how did we or do we receive such a call? Is it not upon our profession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the begotten Son of God, who set aside the glory of the Heavenly realm with earth as its footstool to dwell on earth for the glory of God in Heaven? When we took stock of our lives as they existed before our acknowledgement of Jesus as the Christ, we knew that there was something more that we were seeking. We all seek a wholeness and completion in our own lives. We all have a desire to be better than who we are in the moment. We are coming to the knowledge that this “being better” is not possible without the assistance of one who is better. There is none better than God who is the creator of Heaven and Earth and all parts inbetween. It is God who has shown Himself in true form through His Son Yeshuah or Jesus the Christ. He reveals Himself to us even know in the midst of His Word which was spoken, written and shared in works of faith. We have received this “being better” when we walk by that faith trusting in all the God has said and done. And in it we are made better which calls us to then lead others not to ourselves but to the One who is the best.

What is that call but the same invitation which Jesus extended to those in the days of His earthly existence? As Jesus said to those who would be His disciples, “Come and follow Me,” so He says it to us. This invitation is to not simply exist in His presence and gleaning from the leftovers. No, the invitation is live fully in His presence and “eat of His flesh…the bread of life” and “drink of His blood…the wine of the new covenant.” It is the invitation to die to one’s needs and wants as being the ultimate priorities in one’s life and to be born again into the living fruit of the Spirit. It is to live to the best of our ability, aided by the Holy Spirit, into the full measure and stature of Christ. As He is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving, so we are worthy of His love and favor. This we have to embrace as the truth for our lives. Christ believed we were worthy, even though we were in sin and without authentic forgiveness in God’s mercy and grace because there was nothing we could do in our broken nature to grasp it, to receive the gift of eternal life. This is, as Paul declared it to the community of faith in Jesus as the Christ first in Ephesus and then to the rest of the Church, the life we should deem worthy to pursue, receive and share. That is our real calling.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit spoke us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.