October 12, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should. “

(Ephesians 6.20b)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

If anyone thinks being a Christ follower is easy, then they do not understand the call to faith. When has it ever been easy to follow God? The challenges abound throughout creation. No matter where you turn there is conflict, question and the requirement to “choose therefore whom you will serve.” This was the call in the Garden as God revealed the point of critical mass to Adam and expected Adam to reveal it to Eve. This was the call of Moses to Ramses when the final revelation of plague was to be considered and placed in Ramses’ heart and mind. This was the call of Joshua to the next generation of Hebrews whose parents, grandparents and great-grandparents and generations before that for 400 years had been Egyptian slaves but now waited to step into the legacy of the Promised Land. This was the call of Solomon as the Temple stood completed, finishing what his father had started for God’s glory on earth as it was in Heaven and revealed the call to faithfulness by the people to receive all He could give. It was the call of Jesus to the rich young ruler who came inquiring “How can I inherit eternal life?” It is the call of faith into all our hearts where the gospel is presented that invites our mind to be aligned with the only “way, truth and life” which proves satisfactory amid all the options which the world has connived, contrived and presented for our consideration. The words are crystal clear. Their meaning cannot be any more poignant: “Choose this day whom you will serve.” Being a Christ follower, a God follower through Jesus Christ as Lord, is not a title which then grants permission to just move forward as if nothing else need be done. It is a commitment to engage the most powerful force creation has ever seen. It is a commitment to not only engage it but become married to it so that the two can become as one. It is a commitment of surrender to be grafted into the one true vine and experience the fruitfulness of authentically living and being alive forever in faith, hope and love. All of this exists knowing that in this world there will be trouble.

There was trouble in the beginning, but it was overcome by the light of God’s mercy and grace. That is how the universe and all life within it was truly created. It was by God’s mercy and grace which spoke into the vast void of chaos and dark fury, “I love you.” The Spirit of God carried that word far and wide and into the deepest of the darkness. The very sound of it was a spark of life and recognition which the darkness could not hold back. It was God’s “I love you” which sought out the connections of this to that and one to another until the whole fabric of existence was virtually turned inside out to reveal the beauty that had always been there. God was, is and will always be the irresistable force. He is the force to be reckoned with through which all things have true and authentic life. It means that in order to understand that force for, you must consider a force against. It is the creative conflict by which all things live, move and have their being. It is like having light without dark or night without day. There has to be a contrast in order to understand how all things work together for good and not merely for itself. That is why, I believe in my studies, we see in the Creation Story this designation, “…and it was night and then it was day….” It is because God overcame the darkness of the world and brought life into focus with the light of His love. Only His love could resolve the conflict and overcome the battle of “for and against.” (Romans 8.31) And the battle continues because the right choices are not always made. There is a hope of some, and a growing many, that another way is possible to achieve the “life of meaning that serves me best.” We only need to venture back into the Book of Job to listen to the inquiry between God and Job (and vicariously to the listening audience of heaven and earth). There we read God’s honest question “Who else but Me?” Job knows the truth better than all others because his faith had always been put in God. Now in his darkest times, God’s truth alone was the light of faith, hope and love. Job engaged it and withstood the challenge of the darkness. He passed through his own “valley of the shadow of death.”

For Paul and the Ephesians? Paul’s third prayer request as the means of teaching the believers in Ephesus to not only put on the full armor of God but to engage its potential with prayer was clear. He was the example of that engagement so that the people would know it wasn’t merely “good” words to hear and think about. It wasn’t a poster to hang on the wall or a bumper sticker affixed to the back of an ox cart. Love is not a word like a third grade boy’s note to a girl across the room with a yes/no check box asking “Do you love me?” Love is a gift that must be shared and lived out. True love asks and demands active not passive engagement. Love doesn’t just happen. It is the happening. So, Paul first invoked “prayer without ceasing.” (verse 18) Then, he spoke to the inner confidence which prayer emboldens in the one who prays to be ready to stand in the darkness as light. (verse 19) While we say we pray often (do we pray enough) and we are bold (but have we really allowed ourselves to be tested beyond a bravado). The reality of a life of faith is stepping out of the safety of words and the facades of strength (which may more be like a house of cards). The reality of a life of faith is to be fearless and put love first. Love calls us out of the darkness and into the light. Love calls us out of chaos and into order. Love calls us to surrender instead of false freedom and liberty. Love is the way, the truth and the life. Love requires that act of faith. We are called to be fearless and “love.” This is what Paul revealed to the Ephesians because he was facing the certainty of the end of his life in this world. While he had great faith, he was still human. He knew what was ahead. He needed the strength of the body of Christ, as do we all, to move forward “fearlessly.” We cannot consider the cost to be so great that we resist the effort. It is not about the cost but the effect. Even Jesus considered the cost for a moment in the Garden of Gethsemane of surrendering His life to the cross. He saw it from the human perspective. Yet in His prayer, He uttered the words of fearlessness “Not My will but Yours be done.” Mighty ones of God, we must pray for one another fearlessly. The challenge of being God’s people in this world is built on the confidence we have of being God’s people in the kingdom yet to come. We may lose our lives in the here and now but we will not lose them forever. We look into the abyss and speak the word of mercy and grace. In that word comes the light of life, the light of all people who are revealed in it for who they are meant to be. The choice even then is clear, “Whom shall you serve?”

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

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.