03/21/2023
Acts 20: 32 – “And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified”
My mother tells me that when I was a very young man and we moved to Bay City, TX, we hadn’t been there two weeks before people she didn’t know were coming up and calling me by name and speaking with me. I knew them, and they knew me. Apparently, I didn’t know that I was supposed to be afraid of new things and people. I was just happy to be making friends, and it never occurred to me that I should be cautious of strangers. I think that maybe my fearlessness was due to my parents’ ability to make me believe that they would always keep me safe. New places didn’t bother me because of their vigilance. It was even there when they weren’t with me it would seem…
Paul writes to the Ephesian elders as he sets his sights on a journey to Jerusalem. A journey that he knows is going to be filled with some very hard things. He gathers the elders to let them know that they won’t see him again and leaves them with this encouragement. “I commend you to God and to the message of His Grace”. He’s telling them that even with new circumstances, changing directions, and even new people, their Heavenly Parent is ever vigilant, and would make sure they had all they needed to receive the inheritance they were promised.
This is another thing that lent can allow us to learn. God and the message of grace are always present, always building us, always reminding us that no matter what we face we have been given everything we need to finish our course and claim the victory that God through Jesus gifted us with. Go with Grace today… the journey may be difficult at times, but the Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient God of creation is going with you.
Love in Christ always,
Pastor Chris