Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Ephesians 3-4
Key Verse
Ephesians 4:6 — “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Devotional Thought
Paul writes this letter as a prisoner in Rome, chains on his wrists, yet he introduces himself not as a captive of Caesar but as “the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles.” That single phrase carries the whole burden of Ephesians 3. Paul, a Jew of Jews, had been entrusted with a mystery hidden from ages past: that Gentiles would be “fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ.” He calls himself “less than the least of all saints,” yet he cannot stop preaching “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” And then, in the middle of a letter about doctrine, he bows his knees. The great theologian becomes a man on the floor, praying that the church would know a love that “passeth knowledge.” In February, when winter still grips the ground and the trees look dead, Paul’s image is striking: believers “rooted and grounded in love.” Roots do their work in the cold months, unseen, holding fast until spring.
Then chapter 4 turns from kneeling to walking. “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,” Paul writes, and he spells out what that walk looks like in ordinary life: lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another in love. He is honest about the alternative — Gentiles walking “in the vanity of their mind,” past feeling, given over to uncleanness. But the believers at Ephesus “have not so learned Christ.” The old man goes off like a garment; the new man is put on, “created in righteousness and true holiness.” And notice how practical the new wardrobe is: stop lying, speak truth with your neighbor. Deal with anger before sundown. Stop stealing and start working, so you have something to give. Watch your mouth. Put away bitterness and clamor and malice, and be “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
This is the same grace from beginning to end. The God who “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” is the God who empowers a man to speak a gentle word to his wife, to forgive a coworker, to keep his temper until evening. The mystery that angels long to look into — “the manifold wisdom of God” made known through the church — is displayed not only in grand doctrine but in the unity of a body “fitly joined together,” where every joint supplies, and the whole grows “unto the edifying of itself in love.”
So on this Wednesday in mid-February, with Lent approaching and the year still young, Paul’s prayer becomes ours. Not that we would merely understand the love of Christ, but that we would be “filled with all the fulness of God” — and then walk it out, one forgiven and forgiving step at a time.
Reflection
- Paul says to be angry and sin not, and to let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Is there an anger you are still carrying from yesterday — or last week — that needs to be settled before the sun sets today?
- Paul describes the old man as “corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” and the new man as “created in righteousness and true holiness.” In your daily conversation — your speech, your work, your habits — which man is more visible to the people who know you best?
Prayer
Father, we bow our knees before You, the One of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Strengthen us with might by Your Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. Root us and ground us in love, that we may comprehend with all saints the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. Do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. And then, Lord, teach us to walk worthy of our calling — in lowliness, meekness, and longsuffering — putting away bitterness and wrath, speaking truth in love, and forgiving one another even as You, for Christ’s sake, have forgiven us. To You be glory in the church throughout all ages. Amen.