Daily Devotions
Ephesians 1:15-17a, 18b, 19b, 20-23 – For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you. [I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom … that you may know … the immeasurable greatness of His power that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Note to readers: This is an alternate reading from the Three Year Lectionary, and may not match up with the readings your church uses this Sunday.
I confess that I have trouble understanding Paul sometimes. He gets so excited about the wonderful things he is writing about that his words run away with him, and I get dizzy trying to understand. But here I can’t blame him; because he is right to be excited, because God the Father has raised Jesus from the dead and put Him in the position of highest honor and power in the whole universe. Everything is under Jesus’ feet; there is nothing He does not command.
And that is good for us, isn’t it? Because God the Father has also made Him the Head of the church, which means us. Jesus is as closely connected to us as a head is to the body—we share the same blood, the same oxygen, the same food. And He cares for us and keeps us safe, the way a head protects its body. This high, glorious Jesus—He is the one who is now closer to us than our families or our best friends. He has united Himself to us—and that is our joy and our safety.
How do we know He will care for us well? All we have to do is look at what He has already done—becoming a human being like us, and then sacrificing Himself on the cross in order to save us and bring us back to God. He didn’t have to do that—He chose to do it out of His love for us, and the Father’s love. And now that He has risen from the dead, He chooses to be with us forever, in one body.
Think about what that means. As the Head of the body, He is so closely linked to us that He can never escape us—Jesus has deliberately, knowingly, tied Himself to us for all eternity. After that, how can we doubt that He wants us? How can we doubt that He is interested in us, wants to spend time with us, likes us, even loves us? He’s set things up so we will be with Him all the time, forever! And you don’t do something like that—for all eternity!—unless you’re in love.
WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, I have trouble believing it, that You want me that much. Help me to grasp that. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
1. How carefully did you choose your roommates—your friends—your spouse?
2. Did you think about the length of time you expected to spend with that person?
3. Why would Jesus deliberately tie Himself to you for all eternity?