Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,
Summary: Serving others is not limited to servants. We all serve somebody. Paul tells us to server wholeheartedly, and then he tells us why.
Continue reading “Ephesians 6:7 – Service, Please”Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
Summary: Why be nice to our boss if the boss isn’t nice to us? The answer has to do with our relationship with our God.
Continue reading “Ephesians 6:6 – God and Me”Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
Summary: With today’s passage, Paul takes us into an area that modern society has taped off as verboten. Yet, looking at the underlying Greek text opens the door to a better understanding of how this passage applies today.
Continue reading “Ephesians 6:5 – A Brighter Future”Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Summary: Being a father is a tall order. As humans, we are beset with many hurdles and distractions. Meanwhile, God is our spiritual Father. He is never too busy for you or me.
Continue reading “Ephesians 6:4 – The Curse of Free Will”“Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
Summary: At God’s command, Moses used the carrot and stick approach on the Israelites when they entered the land of Canaan. God uses something similar in this command to honor our parents.
Continue reading “Ephesians 6:2-3 – Carrot and Stick”Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Summary: In this passage, Paul makes us put on our thinking caps as we try to figure out what he means.
Continue reading “Ephesians 6:1 – Caveat”However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Summary: In this passage Paul makes a statement that is impossible to get around. We either accept it, or we don’t. What we choose to do says more about us and our faith than anything else.
Continue reading “Ephesians 5:33 – A Personal Challenge”This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
Summary: Mysteries are mysterious for a reason. Paul seems to be pointing us to the answer to the mystery while, at the same time, asking us to solve it.
Continue reading “Ephesians 5:32 – Where the Ocean Meets the Sky”“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
Summary: Following the bread crumbs in Paul’s thinking leads us to a meditation on how cancer affects the body. How does the metaphor of cancer provide guidance for the modern family and church?
Continue reading “Ephesians 5:31 – Uncontrolled Growth”… for we are members of his body.
Summary: Being a member of the body of Christ is more than simply saying, “I believe.” We must find a way to get along with other believers, too.
Continue reading “Ephesians 5:30 – The Need for Humility”