Today we begin our reading plan through Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians; we’ll finish on Friday, January 28. The readings are assigned on weekdays only, and each day’s reading is brief and manageable. You can do this.

Each weekday morning I’ll post here a brief reflection on that day’s reading to help you get the most out of what you’ve read. (Posts go live on my blog at 3:30 AM and are emailed to the people on my Bible email list at 4:00 AM. Check your spam folder if you are missing a post.) My goal is not to offer exhaustive commentary on the reading, but rather to give you one thing that helps tie the reading to your everyday life.

My sermon series on Ephesians starts this coming weekend, and our first Ephesians churchwide Bible study will be Wednesday, January 12, 6-7 PM, with dinner to follow.

Here we go.

Today’s Reading: Ephesians 1:1-10

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:

2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

The main idea of this letter, as well as the main idea of the long, run-on sentence in today’s reading—verses 3-14 are actually one long sentence in Greek!—is found in verse 10:

The purpose of all that God has done is “to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ”.

We’ll talk much more about the concept of unity, but it’s not hard to see the need for it these days.

We’re a divided people:

• skin color;

• language;

• citizenship;

• party;

• ideology;

• language;

• location;

• etc.

Divisions breed more divisions, which breed hatred and misery.

But we’re actually all part of the same human family, and God did something in Jesus to bring us all back together.

This is what Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is about, and this is why we’re going to read, study, and savor it to kick off this new year.

Today’s Question for Reflection

How can you be a unifier in the name of Christ today?