October 9, 2012
“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” Ephesians 1:4 New American Standard
It is great news that awaits you today .. and everyday. Jesus is doing something in the deepest places of your life: making you holy and blameless. It is one of those God mysteries that doesn’t seem to fit into the wreckage around our lives. Some lives feel or appear beyond reach. Some lives seem well put together .. balanced .. needing only a tune-up and not a wholesale restoration. Some lives seem irreparably scarred or too preoccupied. Some lives act as if it is too late to hope for such a Life. How could He do such a work “in” you .. make you holy and blameless when you are so acutely aware of what is unholy and so full of blame? How can He look at what stretches back through the years and see holy? How could He work with such immense mercy .. unfailing love .. and indefatigable grace to make you blameless inside and out? And what about you? You’ve got the whole day ahead of you. You’ve got things to do .. people to see and talk to .. and the ongoing plan that you’ve put in place to hold your life together and make it work. Maybe you don’t really hold to the idea that He chose you. You point to the evidence that you chose Him. But what if He did chose you? Would it change how you grip this day? What if Christ’s life reconciled you to God? Shouldn’t it make a difference in your marriage .. your work .. your time .. and even your money? This Jesus who you follow .. who you trust .. who you’ll turn to throughout the day is making you holy and blameless and beyond reproach. He’s doing it .. not you. So you can relax and face today knowing that Christ is never going to cancel His work in you. He’s in the middle of your life .. the good parts and the bad. He possesses the skills of a carpenter .. the healing touch of a physician .. the scarred hands of a shepherd .. the ruling presence of a King .. and the holy and blameless claim of Savior and Lord. He’s got work to do … and it only takes a moment …
“yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach ..” Colossians 1:22 New American Standard
Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Holy Artworks following Jesus and friends of Priority One(ken@priorityone.org)
