Isaiah - Verse By Verse | Walking through Ephesians

Walking through Ephesians - Day 8

versebyverse | October 18, 2007 20:06

Thought: To me, sometimes God's superabundant giving seems wasteful. But scripture says it is "wise" and done with "understanding." I have much to learn!

Question: Do I know how much I really need God?

Scripture: Ephesians 1:8 (NIV): "that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."

Webster defines "lavish" as "bestowed, expended, or existing in profusion; superabundant. To bestow profusely or generously; to squander." It comes from the old french "lavache" which means a downpour of rain. God pours Himself into us in no small way. If grace is God's life brought to us so we can know it and experience it, and God lavishes Himself upon us heavily, this is done in His "wisdom and understanding." It is a wise thing for God to lavish Himself, His life, on us. It is done because He understand it needs to be done. Sin has wreaked havoc on our beings. Our world is so broken. We need God more desperately than we know. Any problem we have, we have because we have been distanced from God. God knows He is the Only Solution to our tangled troubles. And so He wisely understands our need for His lavish grace. We can't help ourselves; we must depend utterly upon Him, like an infant depends on its Mother for food, helpless to go and find it for himself. A loving Mother would lavish her child with whatever he needs, and so does God to us.

Prayer: Lord, I gratefully accept Your lavished love. Help me to learn from Your superabundant giving how to lavish love on those around me! Amen.