In Jesus You Are: Understanding Your Identity in ChristSample

Wednesday: In Jesus I am Equipped

Read: Ephesians 2:10, 2 Timothy 3:16–17

SOAP: Ephesians 2:10

“For we are his creative work, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we can do them.”

Children are wonderfully creative. They can see a pile of cardboard tubes and create telescopes, or turn a stack of blankets into a fort. Paint is meant to be messy, and coloring is best when it goes outside the lines. They look at clouds and see animal shapes and can create entire worlds and endless stories while playing with building blocks. Beauty isn’t found in perfection, but in the experience.

As adults, it can be difficult to embrace our creativity. Our past experiences, doubts, and failures keep us from creating something simply for the sake of creating. If we are not able to do it perfectly, we wonder if we should even bother to do it at all. Beauty is found in the celebration and acceptance of what we produce, not in our enjoyment of the experience.

In Jesus we are equipped to do good works that God has prepared for us. We have been creatively designed to fulfill the plans and purpose He created specifically for us. What God created is beautiful. We can bring God glory and honor when we embrace who He made us to be and the work He designed for us to do.

God will equip us for the work, not because He knows we can do it perfectly, but because we are His creation, masterfully, intentionally, and creatively designed.

Prayer: God, thank You for not only creating me, but giving me a purpose and equipping me to do the work You have designed for my life. You are endlessly creative, and I pray this week that I would find a way to create something beautiful, just for You, to honor who You say I am. Amen.