Today’s Readings: Psalm 144; Numbers 11:1-23; Luke 23:26-31; Ephesians 3:14-21; Psalm 22:22-31
People have various ideas of what it means to have strength or be strong. That is especially apparent during this election season when candidates jockey with one another to prove to the American public that they are stronger than the other candidate when it comes to a variety of issues such as defense. Most of the secular understandings of what it means to be strong have to do with having lots of muscle and being able to impose your will on another person or country. They also tend to be predicated on things outside yourself (i.e. you’re strong if you have a big bank account, lots of friends or allies, or access to a gym). Today’s reading from Ephesians, however, gives us another picture of what strength is all about. Paul writes these words to the community at Ephesus: “I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in” (Ephesians 3:15 from The Message). As you face a variety of challenges these days that demand a great deal of strength, how do you understanding what it means to be strong? Do you strength as something that is created by you using elements from the outside, or do you see strength as something that comes from your relationship with God that emanates from the inside? Til next time…
People have various ideas of what it means to have strength or be strong. That is especially apparent during this election season when candidates jockey with one another to prove to the American public that they are stronger than the other candidate when it comes to a variety of issues such as defense. Most of the secular understandings of what it means to be strong have to do with having lots of muscle and being able to impose your will on another person or country. They also tend to be predicated on things outside yourself (i.e. you’re strong if you have a big bank account, lots of friends or allies, or access to a gym). Today’s reading from Ephesians, however, gives us another picture of what strength is all about. Paul writes these words to the community at Ephesus: “I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in” (Ephesians 3:15 from The Message). As you face a variety of challenges these days that demand a great deal of strength, how do you understanding what it means to be strong? Do you strength as something that is created by you using elements from the outside, or do you see strength as something that comes from your relationship with God that emanates from the inside? Til next time…
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