It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Power to the People, a reflection on Ephesians 3:14-21

I have trouble reading Ephesians. The sentences are longer and more complex than those in my usual reading. Today, I tried to break them down into components I could comprehend.

I started like this: "I pray that....1)the Spirit of the Father will strengthen your inner being; 2)Christ will dwell in your hearts; 3) you will be able to understand ..."

Then I realized I had left out the word "power" was used 3 times.

The power comes through God's Spirit. Paul wants us to have the power so that we can comprehend and to know Christ.

Paul then adds that the love of Christ surpasses knowledge.

Since the English translation is ambiguous, I pause here to wonder whether Paul means our love for Christ or Christ's love for us.

I've decided to settle on verse 20: God can accomplish more through us than we would have thought possible.

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