September 22 | Ephesians 1:11-14

5 days ago

3 min read

DAILY READING

REFLECTION

Promised Potential

By Pam Mann

What things say promised potential to you? A beautifully wrapped gift under the Christmas tree? A young child waiting at the bus stop on the first morning of school? A carefully chosen block of wood on the wood carver’s bench? A freshly sown garden in early spring? Turning to the first page of a long-loved classic novel? A bride and groom turning to the congregation as their wedding service closes?

All these scenes of potential are the culmination of choices and purposefully planning. A Kodak moment, as the ads used to say decades ago. We want to freeze this moment in time because we know transformation is coming. We acknowledge this present event as a critical first step in the wondrous process that lies ahead. Sure, there will be rough days with discouragements and setbacks. But we look forward to a worthy goal, the culmination of many hopes.

Likewise, writing to the believers in Ephesus (and to us!), Paul describes a current scene of

God’s own crafting with His purposeful planning. We believers are the ones posing in the photo, but all the heavy lifting God Himself has done. Therefore, all the glory is His. We’re in for a faith adventure, and God Himself is both ship captain and master of the sea. The ship is His. He paid for the fuel. He has the route planned and the final destination is His own elegant estate.

Paul uses metaphors in the letter to the Ephesians, which were fully comprehensible to the people of Ephesus, a major port city. The many ships going in and out of Ephesus carried cargo and letters. These items were marked with seals to make their ownership clear. Normally, a deposit was paid on cargo at shipping time with the remainder to be paid on receiving the shipment. During those turbulent early days in the life of the Church, Paul assures believers that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Our souls in Christ are the cargo, made precious by Christ’s blood, bound for heaven.

If Paul had knowledge of package tracking that we have today, just think what rich metaphors he could draw from that! There are some mundane things we order and then we forget about them. When we see a package at the doorstep, we even wonder what it is. But other packages we eagerly await, because they contain supplies critical to a project we’re wanting urgently to complete, or maybe a gift we're eager to give. We check the progress of the package multiple times a day. If our heavenly Father knows the number of hairs on our heads, it seems the details of every soul delivery would be just as noteworthy to Him. God has the ultimate package tracking system. We are to our Savior packages of promised potential, sealed by His Spirit until the day of our delivery into God’s glory.

PRAYER

Thank You, Holy Spirit, for Your presence with us this day, whether it’s smooth sailing or rough seas. Keep us mindful of our destination and of the One to whom we belong.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PAM MANN

I first joined UALC when my husband (then my fiancé) and I were college students involved in youth ministry. God has used UALC to nurture our family’s faith, even in our years outside the U.S. I’ve participated in UALC ministries with kids, art, prayer, exercise, ESL, and Bible teaching. I do all the fun church things.