little words

There are so many lessons you can learn from the little things. I’ve been memorizing the book of Ephesians lately, and I’ve gleaned many new insights from Paul’s choice of words – especially the small ones.

For example, when he talks about “the riches of God’s glorious grace, which he gives us freely in the one he loves,” the one word that stood out to me was the word “in.” It’s just a little two-letter word, but it speaks volumes to me. God’s grace was given to us in a human form – the Christ child. It’s the most visible, tangible form of God’s grace ever known to man. God didn’t just send a spirit down to earth to appear and tell us of this wonderful grace he has given to us. No, he shaped his grace into the form of a human body, sending his only son and his way of redeeming us in a way we could understand, the way we ourselves are made. Our grace laughed and wept and feared and danced as we ourselves do. Our grace was tempted in every way we are tempted, and yet was steadfast. Our grace gave himself up to the rough hands of Roman soldiers to be crucified like a common criminal and suffered incredible pain for our sake, yet said, with blood and tears streaming down his face, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Our grace lay silent in a garden tomb for three days before gloriously coming back to life. It’s the most beautiful picture of sacrificial love the world has ever seen. The Father’s grace was manifested to us in the very person of Christ.

Another instance was the verse in which he tells the Ephesians that he “keeps asking that the God of our Lord Jesus, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” The word there that struck me was “may.” When I was in third grade, my teacher had the annoying habit of making sure every single third grader knew the distinction between the words “can” and “may.” A child would come up to her during recess and ask, “Can I go get my book from the classroom?” Invariably, she’d reply, “I know you can. The question is whether or not you may do it.” You would have to ask the same question, substituting “may” for “can” before she’d allow you to run off to the classroom. In the same way, we already know that God “can.” In other words, we know that he is more than able to give us that spirit of wisdom and revelation. So did Paul. He wasn’t asking God, “Hey, can you give it to them?” No, he was saying, “Father, I know you are fully able to do this. I know you can, but may you?”

And read the verse, “… in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” At first glance, the end of that first verse might sound a bit odd. Normally a verb like “be” is transitive, so that when you ask the question, “be what?” you’ll have an answer such as “be good” or “be his faithful followers.” Doesn’t that sound better? “… in order that we…might be his faithful followers for the praise of his glory.” Thinking about it though, I realized that God doesn’t want us to just be a certain thing or follow a stereotype for the praise of his glory, and then we can do whatever in the rest of our lives. Rather, he wants us to “be,” or to live all of our lives, everything we do, say and think, for the praise of his glory. That short word, “be,” encompasses more than just certain areas of our lives or a stereotype of a “good little Christian girl/boy.” That little word challenges to be everything we are for God’s praise and glory.

in the beginning...

I've always been fascinated with the Bible's frequent use of the metaphor of the difference between darkness and light. There are so many beautiful verses contrasting the shame and filthiness of the dark with the joy and freedom of the light. I guess you could say the title of this blog stems from that idea. One day, while I was reading my Bible, I came across Acts 26:17-18. It says, “… I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light ...” What a challenge! Our God has sent us to this world to turn people from darkness to light. What I'm hoping is that maybe this blog can be a candle to shed a little light on the darkness of this world.