Ephesians 6 - Thursday 11th July

Today’s chapter is Ephesians 6

Tom writes:

Like an American football team “embracing the process” that leads to excellence, Paul has spent this letter advocating for the excellence of the imitation of God. We can become a productive party of God’s presence, a grace-made gathering of his gladness. We just need to embrace the process of lifting our eyes to him, taking the knee in prayer and adopting rhythms of grace. The overcomplication of the spiritual life - the cluttering of our calling - is something that baffles me. There are a few niggles and nuances along the way but the thrust of the process is clear and clean; see how astonishingly great God is, ask him to change us and then repeatedly do things that help that occur. Then you will be strong in the Lord. Having laid out the process with inspiration and urging, only now does Paul bring in talk of match-day. A day of opposition and evil will come. And when it comes, just trust the process.

To “stand” is the defining verb of our battle. Standing doesn’t mean being passive. Standing means trusting the process- standing means to lean back with confidence on the grace that has already worked in you. Standing means to trust that the measure of God is already in your midst. Pretty much all of the armour metaphors used refer to this one simple truth - God is astonishingly great, he has helped us and he is with us right now. That is the truth around your waist, that is the righteousness on your chest, that is the gospel on your feet and the salvation on your head. In Kids Church we make the kids act out all these things like they are separate pieces, each of which could fall off. But they are really one; the simple, freeing truth that our God is a great coach. Our God has trained us well enough to cope with this foe. Our God has put all the components we need in us and we just need to trust in the process. And so that brings us back to prayer. Prayer is the mighty act of advance in the faith. We pray for the saints to trust their God and to do as they should. Prayer really makes that more likely. And so I finish this book once again wanting to pray some more. I want to pray more for my church and more for my friends. For prayer is the process by which God’s fullness flows into his church. Prayer is the force that unlocks God’s glory that God himself has already died for us to receive.

Question for reflection

What has struck you most about Paul’s immense vision for the church?