Aloha and welcome friends to another edition of the contrary disciple. As always I hope this finds you well and provides you a snippet of truth to apply.
In Ch.2, Paul beautifully pairs our own shortcomings with God's patience, redemption, and plan for our lives. He reminds the Ephesians, and us, that despite our penchant for disobedience, God diligently waits for us to surface from our self-generated complications so He can re-direct our blind attempts to manifest truly positive impacts.
“You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.”
I found it eerie how accurately this verse describes life today, some two thousand years on. I absolutely have, and continue to look to the world for cues as to how I should live. I most frequently accomplish this end by comparison with those around me to glean how to talk, dress, and act. But it goes deeper. Should those around me accept an action or thought I reject, I find my aversion to said item begin to wane, despite known truths. Somethings are of course absolutely unacceptable, but seemingly trivial items I concede to are sinister in their ability to derail my character. As Paul call us out, I often ascribe more weight to my desires in the moment than what I know to be Truth.
I have a dog I care for as I am sure many of you do. However, this animal, whenever presented the opportunity, elects to endanger its own life by escaping and sprinting through traffic. The feeling of betrayal and pure frustration is almost overwhelming in the midst of the re-capture process. That in mind, let's pivot to God's perspective: Consider you created a world and people, gave them every opportunity, and even laid out a path to help them experience fulfillment and limit frustration. Instead, these createes trusted their own way, cast you off, blamed you for life's difficulties, and even ascribed their troubles to your non-existentance. Needless to say, God does a much better job than I when it comes to patience in the face of disobedience.
“He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.”
The tedious law code Paul is referring to was that of the ancient Jewish people. You may remember God originally laid out a fairly simple system consisting of ten commandments for them. However, these laws soon swelled with increased nuance and exceptions until such a point that the original code was almost unrecognizable. When Jesus came He reset this convoluted system with a beautifully simple approach: love God and love your neighbors. Approaching life through this lens ensures we remain on the right side. Furthermore, in this reset God provided He invites us to join in the work:
“He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone”
We all have a part in this eternal effort. Regardless of circumstance, God in all his creativity can still use our lives for the greater good. We will continue to err, but along the way God can even use those missteps to serve his intent. God is ready to use us right where we are at, if only we allow.
The practical application we walk away with is that we while are flawed, disobedient, and unnecessarily complicate things, God still wants to work with us and has a role for each of us to play. Our lives absolutely matter and, irrespective of scope, make an impact on the lives of those around us. With these thoughts in mind, let's ensure we are exerting the right influence on our environment.
I hope this encourages you to make an impact right where you are this week and reminds you that none of this life is in vain. Have a great weekend, sign up below so we can keep you updated and share this with a friend.
-the contrary disciple