By Pastor Steve Nickodemus

Good Works in Advance

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 2:10 New International Version

When one of the fellows on our lawn maintenance crew at church saw the geese descending on our lawn, he said, “What good are these pesky geese? We have way too many of them in our neighborhood and they mess up our lawn!”

After thinking about it a bit, I said to him, “Why, Ken, those are just God’s fertilizer crew!”

And he laughed and had to admit that they did a good job of that!

Do you ever wonder what purpose you were created for? Maybe you have been told by others that you were a bother or a nuisance all your life. You may feel that others have wonderful talents and abilities given them by God, but you have nothing useful to offer Him.

If you think this, you are wrong. God created and redeemed you in Christ Jesus that you might be His handiwork, made for His purposes. And since Christ granted you salvation, He also allotted good works prepared in advance for you to do!

That’s right, our Lord already has your work laid out for you, even before you know it.  Whether that work means witnessing by word or deed, by speaking to others about Jesus or serving in loving and caring ways, God already has that work laid out for you.

And in the doing of that work, you and I bear witness to Jesus Christ, especially as we do the work He has given us with thankful hearts giving praise to God. As the hymn says;

“Take the task He gives you gladly, Let His work your pleasure be;
Answer quickly when He calleth, “Here am I, send me, send me.””

Whatever work Jesus gives us to do, let us do it with all our heart!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church Colorado Springs, Colorado