January 15, 2016
What’s in the
Bank?
Read:
Ephesians
2:4-7
Let
us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. — Hebrews 4:16
In the winter of 2009, a large passenger plane made an emergency
landing in New York’s Hudson River. The pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger,
who landed the plane safely with no casualties, was later asked about those
moments in the air when he was faced with a life-or-death decision. “One way of
looking at this,” he said, “might be that for 42 years I’ve been making small,
regular deposits in this bank of experience, education, and training. And on
[that day] the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large
withdrawal.”
Most of us will at some time face a crisis. Perhaps it will be a
job termination or the results of a medical test, or the loss of a precious
family member or friend. It is in those times that we must dig down deep into
the reserves of our spiritual bank account.
And what might we find there? If we have enjoyed a deepening
relationship with God, we’ve been making regular “deposits” of faith. We have
experienced His grace (2 Cor. 8:9; Eph. 2:4-7). We trust the promise of
scripture that God is just and faithful (Deut. 32:4; 2 Thess. 3:3).
God’s love and grace are available when His children need to
make a “withdrawal” (Ps. 9:10; Heb. 4:16).
Great is Your
faithfulness, O Lord God! Each day I see You provide for me and show me mercy.
Thank You.
Remembering God’s
faithfulness in the past strengthens us for the future.
INSIGHT:
In today’s text Paul reminds the believers in
the church at Ephesus that their salvation is wholly God’s doing—after all,
dead things (v. 5) can’t do anything to change their situation. But Paul
doesn’t stop with the reminder that it is God who makes us alive. He adds that
the goal of that gracious action is to show the incomparable riches of God’s
grace. God saves us to show us who He is.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2016
