Kiza Devotionals 1

Opening

If you are reading along go ahead and find Ephesians chapter 1. We will be reading the first 14 verses.

Have you ever had one of those days where you thought, “what would it be like to live the life of the rich and famous, or that of royalty?” “What would it be like to be filthy rich and never have a care in the world?” I know I have. As a matter of fact, just a couple weeks ago the US Mega Millions lottery had a jackpot of over $1 Billion dollars and that all went to a single ticket winner aaaand it wasn’t me. Once again, it wasn’t my lucky day.

Do you remember when we were kids playing team games and one person from each side was the team captain and it was his or her job to pick the best players for their own teams. You never wanted to be the last kids, right?

We knew that the first kids chosen were the best at what they do but you had no control over what choice those team captains would make.

If you were the first one chosen, do you remember how you felt being called out in front of all your peers as one of the first. Or, maybe, like me, you remember being the last kid chosen—with the team captains looking at each other with the unspoken “I don’t want him—yeah—I don’t want him either.”

Sometimes in our daily grind we can feel like that last kid chosen or the not winning the jackpot but the Bible has something very different to say. Bible says we have not only been chosen, but chosen first and have won the jackpot. Seriously, it says that.

Take a look with me at the first chapter of the book of Ephesians.

For the purpose of this devotional, as I read verse 1, I will be omitting the phrase “in Ephesus.” The very earliest manuscripts do not contain this phrase because, as scholars agree, many of Paul’s letters were intended to be circulated among the churches established in the Gentile nations, and in this instance, those of Asia Minor, that included Ephesus.

Paul had established the church of Ephesus and spent 2-3 years working, so you would expect, like many of his other letters, language of intimacy—calling out greetings to specific individuals there. Yet the language of this letter suggests a lack of intimate knowledge of key leadership and a side comment he makes at the start of chapter 3 that suggests that some may not be familiar with Paul.

Taking that into consideration and by omitting that, the language reads just slightly differently and becomes a bit more personal and broader— in the sense that the intended audience was more than just those in Ephesus.

[read vv1-14]

There is so much packed in these 14 verses I could probably talk an hour or more — but, I’ll be brief and I want to zero in on v11.

The phrase that reads “we have obtained” does not convey the interesting nuance behind the original language. As a matter of fact, many different english versions I’ve read do not relay the cultural background of the underlying Greek.

The Greek meaning would read “We have obtained, by lot, an inheritance.” It didn’t make much sense to me at first—Lot—what was that, was that like an auction lot meaning a collection a miscellaneous goods—or what? Then it hit me. Lots weren’t collections of items—it was a game of chance! In John 19:24 it says that the Romans cast lots for Jesus’ Tunic and Luke 1:9 Zechariah was chosen by lot to serve in the Temple. Being chosen by lot was a means by which Old Testament figures determined the will of God. And here, in verse 11, we see that, “in Him we” WON THE JACKPOT! We were chosen by lot; we were chosen by God to receive an inheritance. My wife and I joke about not having a rich uncle—who cares? We have the Creator and sustainer of all things who adopted us as his children and we are heirs to the riches of God himself!

Paul is laying out in the preceding verses why God the Father is to be Blessed because he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And, HE CHOSE US—v4—not only that, but did so before the foundations of the earth were even laid.

God planned all along an amazing inheritance for those who are faithful in Christ and we have been given a guarantee, or in layman's terms a title or deed to that inheritance by the gift of the Holy Spirit. V14 says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance.

It’s very easy to lose sight of heaven; to fail to see God working in the big picture because life for us is sometimes quiet or not moving favorably. We can get caught up in the trap of thinking “I am in Christ, I should be exempt from suffering.” Moses got that idea in his head the first time he went to Pharaoh — doing what God had told him to do—surely Pharaoh would simply capitulate. But when that did not happen—and Pharaoh reacted by making life harder, Moses and the people complained to God.

We’re not much different. That’s why it’s so important for us to keep reading scripture; reminding ourselves of what God has done in the past. Count our blessings to remind us of what God has done in our lives and keep looking to the future to see what God has in store for us.

So if you have one of those days where you’re feeling left out of the first line team mates or wishing you were living among the rich and famous, remember Paul’s letter of encouragement that you were chosen by God and won the jackpot and we are awaiting the day where we will take possession of our inheritance.

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