Thought of the Day !!

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

                                    Ephesians 2:8-10 (NRSV)

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it sums up salvation for me.  Paul teaches that our salvation is a gift that cannot be earned.  The only part we play in it is by having faith enough to accept the gift. 

This passage doesn’t end with just telling us that God gives us salvation.  Though we cannot do enough good works to earn salvation from God, He did prepare this as our way of life.  In other words Paul is telling us that God created us to have good works be a part of our natural lives.  We were created, not to sit around, but instead to do good works.

What are these good works?  They are too numerous to list and can be different for each one of us.  But the thing that they all have in common is that they come out of the love of Jesus and are a way of sharing that love with others. 

James, in his letter, teaches us that faith without works is dead.  God did not create us to have a dead faith.  He created us to live out a faith that is vibrant and alive.  When this faith is alive, works simply come naturally instead of being forced.

How is your faith today?  Is it alive or dead?  Are you living your life “created in Christ Jesus” for the good works that share Him with the world?  Or are you keeping Him all to yourself?

In the love of Christ,

greg