Music to My Ears

Have you ever listened to a good song and then it abruptly stopped. It's happened to me plenty of times as I was driving and the radio station got fuzzy....just when the good part of the song was coming up. You want to play a cruel trick on someone...play them songs but before each song gets to the chorus.... stop and go to the next song. Arrghhhh : )

This is how I feel about some scripture verses. We stop reading before the "hook".... or before reading until the end of a main point. I've done it several times myself. Take Ephesians 2:8-9 for instance: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Good stuff to chew on, thats for sure! But if we stop there...we dont get to the "chorus" . In order to truly get it, we need to read a bit more.

Verse 10 - 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Created in Christ Jesus....for what? For good works!!

Not saved by works.....but created for good works.... which God prepared before hand.

Here it is again from the Message Bible:

7-10Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Brothers and sisters in Christ....let's get busy....let's make a difference.... let us be the light within darkness!