Before you did anything, God chose you. This opening passage of Ephesians piles up blessings like a cascade: chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, sealed. It’s almost overwhelming. And it all happens “in Christ,” that repeated phrase anchoring everything in God’s action, not ours.
This is the deep thread that holds us together: we don’t author our stories alone, and we’re not even the first authors. God has been weaving the pattern of your life since before you took your first breath, and the thread that binds you to God also binds you to everyone else in Christ. We are coauthors with God and with each other, but the loom belongs to the One who is bringing all things together in Christ.
This is comforting, but also challenging to our modern thinking. You are not self-made. Your worth isn’t determined by what you achieve or how well you perform the role you think you’re supposed to play. You’re woven into something much larger – chosen, destined, sealed with the Holy Spirit as God’s “down payment” on a future that’s already begun but not yet complete.
We live in this “already and not yet,” catching a glimpse of the threads of a tapestry we won’t fully see until God brings all things together. In the meantime, we’re held together by grace.
God of all blessing, you wove us into your story before we knew our own names. Help us trust that we belong to you and to each other, even when the pattern is unclear. Give us glimpses of the tapestry you’re creating, where all things find their place in Christ. Amen.
Michael Paul Cartledge
Director of College Ministry,
Words for Waiting 