FAITH CONNECTION – FARMERSVILLE UMC
Ministry Updates for Thursday, September 10th, 2020
For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Reflection – Created for Good Works
So after we are told, in The Letter to the Ephesians, we are saved by God’s grace through our faith and not through our works, we might be tempted to believe we do not have to do anything. Our lives, our salvation, our future is ‘a lock’ and it is all good.
If that was true, then the passage or the letter would have stopped there. But it continues, saying, ‘For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works…’.
Honestly, I do not like it when my faith is weak or non-existent. When this happens, I over-focus on myself instead of my community. I over-focus on what I want to do instead of what needs to be done. I over-focus on my fears instead of my hopes.
I do not know why my faith in God wanes at times. Maybe it is because I am tired. Maybe it is because I feel let down. Maybe it is because I cannot imagine good things being around the next corner. Maybe it is because I have let a distraction overwhelm me. But for whatever the reason I feel faithless, or hopeless, it feels ugly.
I love knowing that I am created for ‘good works in Christ’. God has me (and you) here in this place and time for a reason. That promise helps joy return to my heart. When Paul writes that God prepared good works beforehand to be our way of life, I think we might say it this way today, ‘God built feeling good about doing good into our DNA’.
So we are heaven bound, and that is good. But even better, God calls us to share a little bit of that heaven, the ‘kingdom of heaven’ Jesus talked about, today. God needs you to do this in the ways in which he has gifted you to. What a gift to be able to share your gifts with others, to bring happiness and hope into the world.
Prayer:
God who restores, God who heals, God who renews and saves, we thank you that you not only save us, but fill us with purpose. God, we know there are many ways to do good in the world, but you have given me unique gifts which allow me to spread hope and joy in the world around me. Help me Lord, be ready and willing to do the works you call me to do. Amen.