Prepared ...

Monday, Nov 15, 2010. In the bible there are sometimes interesting ideas, which are not necessarily clear to us initially. In the letter of the apostle Paul to the Ephesians today we pick up one of such curious ideas. We will see that it is quite smart and can be of large influence on our life.

How to prepare my actions? …

How do you approach your day? Do you plan your day? Do you think about things, study the environment, prepare a plan, then go into a phase of discussion and feedback, finally carry out what you have planned? Today, everyone working in industry or science is using some kind of project management.

Some of us like spontaneous decisions. But often, when we look a little deeper, spontaneous decisions grow on the background of knowledge, of preparations which can take quite a while. Then, when we know what the options are, we can be completely spontaneous.

The topic of preparation and action is discussed by Paul in his letter:

10 It is God who created us. He created us so that through our union with Jesus Christ, we might do good deeds – deeds which he had already chosen for us to do. (Ephesians 2: 7-10)

God's path for us …

The biblical image here is that God already chose good deeds for us to do. He has already prepared good things. He has already done all what is needed for us to be good. We do not have to do all this ourselves.

Perhaps you think that you do not want God to choose, rather you want to choose yourself. But I think that this is not meant as a limitation for freedom. It is rather a help which enables us to do things we would never be able to do without God's preparation. With him we are connected to a source of wonderful relationships, of fantastic deeds, which truly help, which are sustainable and have a future. ... more texts