It's an Illusion...If not a Delusion...

As we end what I think for many has been the endless month of March and many of us head into another month of stay at home orders from our elected officials, I think there's a lesson for us to keep in mind as we seek to be faithful to God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a lesson about the bigger picture of what is going on between the creator and the created, and by taking time to look at the bigger picture, my prayer is that we will find the strength and motivation to continue in what may seem to many to be an interminable time of uncertainty.

For today's lunch, I'm going to draw from a few verses from Ephesians, the second chapter, verses eight through 10. I'll be reading from the New Living Translation.

"God saved you by His grace when you believed and you can't take credit for this, it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it for we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

We look at those words from Ephesians, there are just a few short thoughts that come to mind and the first one is found in verse eight, when we're in the midst of such a hard time where it seems we may be on our own because of all our normal routines being upended, let us be reminded once again that grace is a result of God's proactivity out of a deep love for us because God's grace is a gift. It allows us to realize once again, that we serve and worship a God of love.

Another thing we can draw out, another nugget during this lunchtime is found when Paul writes, "Salvation is not a reward." And he writes about, "We can't take credit because it's a gift from God." Friends, what I think that we must remember is that strictly because God's grace is not earned, but given out of love, we are grounded in the reality that our creator loves us, not because of what we've done, which in addition to keeping us from boasting about our work invites, if not demands, that we instead live in such a way that we revel in being beloved children of our creator for we get to live out of love, not out of fear. We worship God not because we're afraid of God, but because of God's love for us.

One last thing to keep in mind is that since we are God's masterpiece, let us remember that like all works of art we reflect the essence of our creator. Let us not forget to marvel at that reality and use it to be inspired to live as those who have been given a clean slate, a fresh start so that we can be about the business god intended for us from the beginning. To love God with everything we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Now look, let's not run and hide from the reality we all know of, even if we do not want to consciously admit it out loud. There is so much about our lives that is beyond our control while this is the norm for every day and times of acute crises such as this, we need to be even more intentional about remembering why we are here in the first place because of God's love, manifest, and Christ and sustained in us by the Holy Spirit.

My hope and prayer for us all is that we hold onto the truth that we are God's masterpiece, made not by accident but by grace and love from the Lord, our God.