Each week of devotions throughout our Live Worthy series on Ephesians will be spent on a single chapter. We encourage you to re-read the chapter each day. Additionally, we will focus on a few key verses each day. This week, we will focus on chapter 1 of Ephesians
Read Ephesians 1
Focus Verses: Ephesians 1:11-14 ESV
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Our middle daughter has always had a love of books! The school library was one of her favorite places, and the bookshelf in her room was always full. When she was in high school, we gifted her a personalized book embosser for her birthday. What a beautiful gift it was to us to see her eyes light up as she pressed her initials into the front pages of all her books. There was so much joy in placing a seal of ownership on each one.
When I think about how those of us who choose to accept and follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior are sealed with the Holy Spirit, I can’t help but think God feels that same joy as He makes it clear that we belong to His family. The promise of salvation we can find through Christ and the inheritance of heaven given to us was arranged in advance, in anticipation that we might choose Him for ourselves. The Holy Spirit is God’s reminder to us of our new family – our new identity as God’s dearly loved children.
The little embossment in my daughter’s books is hardly permanent, as we all know that pages can simply be torn from a book …easily lost. But God’s seal – His gift and promise of the Holy Spirit is not. It is a part of us so that we might use this life to praise and bring glory to Him, until He calls us home.
Pray:
God,
Thank You for the gift You have given us. I am in awe of the depth of Your love that knows everything about us and loves us still. Thank You for the provision of Your Holy Spirit that strengthens us, teaches us, and works to shape our lives to look more like Yours. Remind me today of who I am in You. I am loved. I am wanted. I am pursued. I am rescued. I am redeemed. I am Yours – sealed with a love and a promise that cannot be taken away. Thank You. Amen.
