According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Ephesians 1:4
As a young man, Ernest opened a small electronics store, selling products he was able to import himself from several foreign countries. Because he could bypass the usual middlemen, he was able to sell his products at much lower prices than his competitors. His business expanded rapidly and thrived, and eventually he centred his attention on importing rather than retail. Ernest had three sons who he began grooming at an early age to become involved in the business. He brought John, Dave, and Phil to work as young lads, even taking them on some of his trips abroad to purchase products. Teaching them everything he knew, he planned for them to enter the business as they finished school. John and Dave did, John even going to university to obtain a business degree so he could more valuable to his father. But Phil never took any interest in the business, to his father’s dismay. Despite Ernest’s pleading and coaching, Phil turned his back on his opportunity, and went to work driving a truck. Although in time John and Dave became wealthy men, their brother did not, even though their father had chosen a life of prosperity for all three of them. God has also chosen a life of spiritual prosperity for all of His children. It is up to us whether we become what He has chosen.
Our text today reveals the first of the great spiritual blessings that are referred to in verse 3 of this chapter. Just as Ernest had chosen a great opportunity for his sons, God has chosen for us to be holy and blameless before Him in love. This is a great display of God’s grace to us, because, unlike Ernest’s sons, we were not always sons of God. There was a time when we rebelled against, even opposed, the purposes of God. But His salvation transformed us, and brought us to appreciate our Father and His purposes. Instructed by His Word and guided by His Spirit, we have become apprentices in God’s business and participants in His enterprises. There is no ceiling on what we can accomplish for God, and on what we can earn in eternal rewards in our service for Him. Nothing in the world can rival what God is offering to us for opportunities as to how we spend our lives.
The first opportunity for us in this great blessing is to be holy. Even though the world around us is becoming more corrupt and ungodly, we as Christians do not need to be dragged down to that level. God would have us to be like the Lord Jesus. He has given to us the Gospels, where we may read of His perfect life and service. He has given to us the Acts, the Epistles, and the Revelation, where we may also feed our souls and grow in His grace. And the Old Testament is to us a vast treasure mine of knowledge and examples. We learn and we obey. The more we know and follow the Word of God, the more we will be not only holy but also without blame before Him in love.
Regardless of what we choose for our earthly vocation, God has chosen for us a wonderful spiritual vocation, and we find our greatest fulfillment in taking Him up on His offer. -Jim MacIntosh