In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we get a bit of a grasp on the work of God in our lives. We learn the perspective God has on us and the perspective we typically have are quite different. We are creatures given to the here and now. We tend to forget there has been a past to this world we live in. Out of our ignorance of the past we tend to repeat the same mistakes as those who lived before us. The mistakes we make are both in our external actions and our internal perceptions of life. We tend to lose our bearings when life gets difficult. It feels like everything is careening out of control. We wonder if anyone is in control of this world and if there could possibly be any purpose to what we are going through.

You must remember that the Bible is not some book full of religious potients to make your life easier. It is God’s book of revelation to humanity to inform us as to what He is up to and how we can come to know Him. When Paul wrote to the Ephesisans he was writing to normal everyday people like you and me. They simply lived in a different time and place. They faced all the struggles of humanity that we do. They needed to know if their lives had a purpose.

One thing we learn from this letter is that God does indeed have a purpose and it comes right into your living room. Just take a quick look at the book. In chapter one you will find that God formed His plan for you from before time began. That would be pretty long ago. Makes me think He really is interested in you. The language used expresses that God is quite generous in what He does for His children. What strikes me as interesting about the book however is that God begins before time with His eternal purpose in Christ for all creation but then works His way through Paul’s pen to tell us that His plan is so powerful and particular that it affects how we live at home. Go ahead, read the book and see if it is not true. Now that is amazing. What God determined from before the world He has now worked out by His powerful call on my life. This call of His is so effective that it gives me, through His Spirit, the ability to be and do all the things He ask of me in this letter. That means if God has told me to be a certain kind of husband at home, He is with me to enable me to live out this calling. Does life have a purpose? I’d say so!

Interesting isn’t it how close God actually is and yet our eyes of faith so obstructed at times that we can hardly see Him and the whole time He is in your living room with you.

Tony