We are God's Workmanship...

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions

--it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us

with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith

--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

--not by works; so that no one can boast.

For we are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

--Ephesians 2:4-10

I find that I miss the mark in much of my life...wife, mom, sister, friend...but if I catch this right, God is rich in mercy...He made me alive...ALIVE...in Christ while I was dead in my own mess. He's saved me by His grace...so that I can be raised up with Christ...to show the coming age the incomparable (and incomprehensible for me) riches of His Grace...by saving even ME...even me in all my 'mark-missing'...in all my 'human-ness'...

As Christians we know that our 'works' don't save us...we say that out loud...but do we live like it? We look at this verse and get the sinking feeling that God does have a 'to do' list out there with our name on it. So we spend much time, on top of everything else we 'do' looking for our 'niche' in ministry...or questioning constanly our Great God about 'what to do next'...don't gem me wrong...much much time spent in prayer is a Good thing...Seeking God's face on all matters is foundational for our lives...but I seem to get bogged down in the 'day to day' things or the 'service-type things' that I feel compelled to do...

He does have a plan for our lives...He does love us...He does use us to further His kingdom. Our own 'To Do List' , I'm thinking, looks a lot different than God's 'To Do List' for us, remember: He prepared in advance for us to do.

Because we live in this era of history...our list gets long and cumbersome because we want to do it all, get it all done...and while there is nothing wrong with doing our part...we get those priorities SO out of whack sometimes that that list becomes our driving force for the day. We wake up, focused on the task at hand, and we're off to the races...not giving our King a thought...or a glance...or even an acknowledgement that He's still on His throne...whether we're too busy to talk to Him or not.

We are God's workmanship...

He's crafted us to do exactly what He intended us to do with our time. And, according to the writer of Psalm 139, none of our days is a surprise to Him, He thought of each day before one of them came to be! I am convinced that much of our stress in life comes from not living there...from living to please everyone, including ourselves, else but our God.

...created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Catch that 'to do'. Here's the to do: Bring Glory & Honor to His Name...in everything you do...attempt, feel, say and DO. Slow down...pray that He order your day first...to take away things that you've put there that don't need to be there...to put in things that He intends to use to 'Bring Glory & Honor to His Name'...

And, for those of us who like to write on our post-it notes exactly what we have "to do" today: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humble with your God.--Micah 6:8

It all ties together to make our days honoring to our Father with our interactions with others, both those in the body of Christ and those that are not yet a part of that body. We do fall down...but sometimes, it's from exhaustion from trying to 'do enough' or 'be good enough'...remember the grace...remember the mercy...and remember that God loves you no matter what...He created you...and He has the plan to transform your life to transform YOU to His likeness...just slow down so you can hear Him...We are God's Workmanship...