“Oct 10, 2024 - The Eyes of Your Heart”

Wednesday, October 09, 2024

The Eyes of Your Heart

Reading:  Ephesians 1:15-23
    
    Paul loves to pray for Christians and churches in other places—and especially loves to tell them about it.  “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers”(Eph 1:16).  When others come to faith in Jesus and begin to live differently, God is responsible, so Paul is thankful to God.  He also prays for their continued spiritual growth:  “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him”(Eph 1:17-18).  What young believers need may not simply be more knowledge about God, but knowledge of him as they begin to deepen a relationship with him.  The difference there is immense; it is the difference between knowing facts about a person’s life and actually meeting them.

     The knowledge they need involves “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe”(Eph 1:18-19).  Hearts have eyes!  Paul wants their eyes to be opened to the richness of the blessings they have received.  Note that there is no new ground or new revelation here—they already know their hope, what a blessing the saints can be, and how great God’s power is.  Paul wants for them to see this with their hearts, processing emotionally what they know intellectually.  There is a depth and power to what God has done for us that must not just be recited, but felt.  All of this is revealed by the glorious exaltation of Jesus (Eph 1:20), which points toward his imminent complete dominion (Eph 1:21), now foreshadowed by his lordship over the church (Eph 1:22-23).  They know this, but Paul wants them to truly know it.

    Christianity is a religion that must be learned; there are facts to master and accept.  Yet this not usually where we find the “aha!” moments that capture our hearts.  Growth and maturity involve thinking deeply on the mystery of God’s grace, the wonder of what is to come, and the scope of God’s power and love.  It must not just be recited, but felt.

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One Thing to Think About: Is there a difference between knowing something and understanding it?

One Thing to Pray For:  A deeper appreciation for the value of my fellow believers 
 

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