For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 139:7-16 (NIV)
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
After Christmas dinner, my daughter-in-law Ana served us dang yuan. This hot syrupy soup with colorful glutinous rice balls floating in it is a traditional dessert the Chinese eat at Winter Solstice, which always occurs during the Christmas season. Pete, her three-year-old, proudly pointed out: “I made this one and that one!” I chuckled—even though Pete’s handmade rice balls were odd-sized and misshapen, he considered them his masterpieces.
This made me reflect on how God sees us. When He made mankind at the grand finale of His Creation, He “saw all that he had made and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Even though mankind subsequently became sinful, the Psalmist recognized that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14); we continue to be God’s masterpieces, albeit mired in sin. And, God didn’t leave us in sin. He redeemed us in Christ to be His handiwork fit for good works to His glory (Ephesians 2:10).
Sometimes, I forget that not only have I been lovingly made, I’ve also been lovingly re-made in Christ. Forgetting these truths, I struggle with low self-esteem or wallow in self-pity. How about you? Looking at my grandson’s delight in his funnily shaped rice balls, I’m reminded that we ought to be shaped according to how God sees us—we are His loved masterpieces, redeemed in Christ. So let’s live according to the delight of being God’s handiwork.
Today’s Hymns:
O To be like Thee
Power of Your Love
Scripture to Respond:
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1 Peter 2:5 (NIV)
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Reflection:
You are created in love and remade in Christ with love, what does this truth mean to you? How does it impact your way of living?
Prayer:
Father, thank You for reshaping me. Please help me not to feel inferior or indulge in self-pity. Please build me to be a person after your own heart, because I am the masterpiece of Your salvation.
Wong Wai Tung
(Chief executive officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) &
Sam Chow
(Administrative officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation)
