Recently I spoke in Florida and North Carolina and mentioned Ephesians 1:4-5, then on Tuesday evening our small group Bible study ended up studying the same verses. So, since I don’t believe in coincidences, here are the verses and a few thoughts for you:
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
Paul is writing to Christians, and it strikes me that even before God made the world he was in love with me. He was thinking of me. And that his unchanging plan all through the ages has been to bring me into his family. That was God’s dream, and it brought him joy. (The symbol above is the symbol for eternity. I thought that would be apropos for this post.)
As I consider these things, it strikes me how silly it is to walk around trying to affirm myself like the pop psychologists suggest—"I’m a good person. I can feel good about myself. I should have high self esteem. I am capable and unique."
If God himself has been in love with me for an eternity, and dreaming of adopting me into his family, what greater sense of acceptance, belonging and love could I ask for?
1 comment:
There's a nice, joyful sense to your expression here . . . and I agree that it's good to not ignore when God repeats himself by showing up in the same verses in multiple contexts. :-)
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