Daily Archives: March 17, 2009

First, Happy St. Pat’s to all of you! I tentatively greet today, hoping it passes with fewer theatrics than last year. I omitted the whole police debacle, but can read about my drunk nun neighbor in this post.

Second, welcome to Mama Loves! To learn more about this weekly exercise in positive blogging, visit this post.

Mama loves hidden significance. Well, it’s not hidden, but sometimes we miss it. Let me explain.

When you’ve been a christian for a long time, you can sometimes skim through your Scripture reading. I told Rick yesterday that I’ve been trying to read through the Gospels again (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), but I’m struggling to stay engaged. I’ve read them so many times in the seventeen years that I’ve been a believer that the stories seem stale. And yet Scripture is never stale! I’ve just convinced myself that I know the stories and have already gathered every tidbit of inspiration from them. The problem isn’t the passages I’m reading, but my attitude toward them.

Other times you focus so much on one aspect of a passage that you miss other crucial points. This is the hidden significance I mean. I love reading something I’ve read a hundred times (or more) and finding something new. This is what happened this morning while I read through the first chapter of Ephesians.

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.” — Ephesians 1:4-5 (NAS)

Anyone who has ever engaged in apologetics reads this and immediately launches into a debate of predestination vs. free will. Verse 11 deepens the debate to the extent of God’s sovereignty over “everything in conformity” with His purposes. But a much greater truth lies in this passage. Yes, doctrines of predestination, free will and God’s sovereignty are importiant, but by focusing so heavily on these points, we miss something so cool: the why.

God chose us IN LOVE according to HIS pleasure and will so that we may be HOLY and BLAMELESS in His sight.

God draws us unto Himself not based on merit or value, but based on His great love for us. He does this not to prove His great power over us or His predestination, but to make us better, to make us blameless and holy in His sight. That is awesome!  None of us is righteous. For Him to make us so in His sight – that all-seeing, perfectly perfect  and righteous sight — that is a miracle greater than predestination. It’s a wonder deeper than free will. It’s the gospel, the greatest news the world has ever known.