August 5 - Ephesians 1:15-23

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Paul writes the most incredible words and sometimes it takes time for them to permeate my mind. I've read this passage many times, but today I got something new from it.

He writes, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”

Isn't that interesting.  I think most of us would like Paul to end the sentence just before the final comma so that we can make this verse about us.  We would like God to give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation … and be done right there.  It would be much easier if we could decide how to use that wisdom and revelation rather than have a task assigned to us, wouldn't it!

In fact, many of us pray regularly (myself included) for wisdom and understanding so that we (I) can interact with the world around us (me).  It isn't easy to live in the world today and sometimes it takes all the wisdom and understanding we have just to get through a day.

It occurs to me, however, that in truth, our perspective is really skewed.  By focusing on our interactions with the world, we tend to live according to its rules and we react much as the world around us expects us to react.  It is only through sheer willpower that we can act as Christians some days.

If our perspective was correctly placed, as Paul reminds us in that verse, there wouldn't actually be an issue.  If we continually asked for a spirit of wisdom and revelation  so that we might know God better, everything changes.  We no longer focus on ourselves, but on him. We don’t see the small problems that we face, but see the big picture through his eyes. We make decisions based on what will help us to grow closer to God, not what will help us get through the day.

Dear God, help me to keep my eyes, my heart and my self focused on you and give me a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that I might know you better.