Day 13

January 21

Jacob Lail 

Ephesians 2:8-10

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

We don’t make or give ourselves the salvation we want, for that salvation only comes from God’s grace. All of God’s children are crafted by him and come to life from the breath he puts into us. Verse 9 reminds us that we don’t gain salvation from our own works so that we can’t boast about doing something that only God can do. The verse is telling us to have humility, to be humble. Growing up I would hear, “Don’t get too big for your britches” or “Your ego is gonna be the size of a balloon if you don’t quit.” Being confident is one thing, but over-confidence can lead to massive downfalls. You can get swallowed up in your mind and lose track of where the true path that you’re supposed to be following has gone. It’s like going off the trail in the woods to look at something cool, but getting lost. Ironically, most often the path isn’t that far away, but we get so caught up in being lost that we freak out and wander farther. When we feel as if we have lost sight of God, we can panic and think that we have lost him forever. However, God is not that far away and he waits for us with open arms. Grace is God’s power and his forgiveness. God has created us to do good works (as read in Verse 10) in his name for all to benefit from. We can seem to fall from His grace or even see ourselves in such a way that we begin to feel as if we don’t deserve forgiveness for our acts against the Father, but salvation isn’t up to us to give to ourselves because only God can give us that salvation through His grace.

For today’s look at the renovation of ourselves, let’s look at the renovation of our relationship with God and His grace and salvation for us. Analyze what you do in your everyday life and see where you need to change some things because they go against what God asks of us. Re-read today’s passage (over and over if needed) if you feel that you are undeserving of His grace and salvation. Remember that God saves us, and no matter how far we go off the path, he waits for us with open arms and tears of joy. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for everything that you do for us. Thank you for breathing life into us and, through your grace, offering us salvation so that we may join you in heaven. You are an amazing Father, and we love you.

Amen.