DaySpring Daily Word of Inspiration: Ephesians 5:20 – always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you just read this passage as is, you may miss the context of the scripture. It takes us through a comparison of sorts between a person following the example of God in Christ and those who aren’t. It lets us in on the duties we have as children of God and what is expected out of us in our lifestyles. The list of items we read up until this scripture are common, but they have a significance which makes today’s devotional so much more powerful.
Simply put, we are going to have obstacles in this life. Things are going to try and overtake us. People will try to deceive us with their slick talk. We may be pushed to the brink of getting drunk and wanting to give up on everything in life. We may even be faced with falling back into our old sinful deeds we once did before we experienced the grace, mercy and love of Christ. However this scripture highlights our attitude even while these things are common, prevalent and trying to overtake us.
Giving God thanks isn’t relegated to only when he comes through for us. What about the seemingly bad things we experience? Surely God doesn’t deserve praise and thanks for those situations, does he? Well take for example a person who was in a bad accident but walked away without harm. Ok, that was an easy one. Let’s say that person was injured and the car was totaled. Now there can’t be anything to be grateful for in that situation right? Suppose that person just lost their income and having that car note was going to really harm them in the future or that injury, although bad, was supposed to be worse because that car had a recall on a part or safety feature. We don’t know God’s plans to get our attention or to get us out of situations that we’ve put ourselves into but what we can do is thank him in everything he does because he knows what he’s doing!
We must remember these types of things (and many others) will happen! This is common stuff! The forewarning in the scriptures (v. 1-19) is not to get caught up in the trials or situations like many believers do or revert back to our old lifestyles or even indulge in secret evil deeds but to remain actively like children of God against everything in the world that we go through. In doing so, we give thanks to God for everything we go through, every situation we overcome, every sacrifice we make and every let down we encounter. We give thanks in EVERYTHING because we know that it is all still under God’s ultimate control and Jesus’ sacrifice is our assurance of that fact! Why wouldn’t we give thanks for everything? We are promised the victory if we remain in Christ.
Today we pray that no matter what you’re encountering in life that it doesn’t blind you to the fact that God is still in control and we can thank him in everything (that means situations) and for everything because we have a promised outcome in Jesus when we follow his example as children of the light. Thank you God, in Jesus’ name, AMEN!