Paul's prayer for the Ephesians Ephesians 1:18 (message translation) I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! In watching a tv show the other day, one scene showed a dead man's inheritance being given to those whom he had left it too. There were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, his wife and some close friends who were expecting to be mentioned in his will. In this particular tv show some were elated and some were sadly disappointed as they found out their standing with the deceased man per their amount of the inheritance. The dead man's inheritance was just that... a dead man's inheritance.
For those who know Jesus as their Savior we also have an inheritance, but ours is a living inheritance. This inheritance is sometimes missed by those of us who know Him. We actually are living in the amazing glow of the inheritance given to us by our Heavenly Father. Our Living Heavenly Father. The amount of that inheritance is the highest we can get and that is what we can share in, heaven for eternity. We don't have to wait for the reading of the will after the author of that will dies because God is eternal and He won't die. So our inheritance is actually realized the moment we ask Jesus to come into our heart by faith. We receive the inheritance that only God can give us and He is present to help us realize the strength of that gift in each of us. Verse 19 in the scripture above tells us of the benefits we receive with this inheritance. The gift is extravagant (def) exceeding what is reasonable. In other words, this gift is way more than we can understand right away because it is beyond our human reasoning. Paul, in writing to the church at Ephesus, was wanting to encourage them through his prayer for their eyes to be opened to just what they did have in that relationship with God through Jesus. Since we do have this inheritance, shouldn't we know all that we do have in that relationship with Jesus? Of course! Paul knows about scales falling off a person's eyes and he just wants that for those early believers and for you and me. In other words, open your eyes to God's truth! We have great power to live our lives and great understanding in how to follow God's will for direction in our life. Why? Because our Heavenly Father is still alive and showing us how to spend those heavenly dividends to make our life complete and more like Him every day.
Back to the tv show. The will stated conditions for some who received money or property to use what was given to them. For example, one child received a hotel from the deceased and the deceased asked that the hotel be run in the traditional manner it had always been run. The problem with that request is that the person asking is dead. Our God is alive and His requests are current with what is happening in our life. Micah 6:8 says "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you? But to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
God is right here with us and we need to open our eyes to see Him, follow Him, and serve Him! Our life is made complete in following His instructions and learning His ways and that happens when our eyes are opened to His Word and His Way. Paul's prayer for the Ephesians is a strong reminder for each of us to "open our eyes" and take the inheritance of our faith provided by Jesus and use that power and direction to base our life on. Don't be blinded to the truth anymore. Live with eyes wide open, looking for God and His direction, and live in the strength of that living inheritance.
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren
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