Day 67 – Do Your Bit
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We have a quote above our piano at home, ‘An expert in anything was once a beginner.’
Sometimes I will hear my son Jude sitting at the piano trying to get a section of a piece he is learning just right. I can hear him doing the same bit over and over and sometimes (most times) I also hear accompanying sounds of frustration like banged keys and grunts that he just isn’t getting any better. He asks me to come in and show him what to do, which mainly serves to irritate further when I can then play the thing he is working on! I remind him (again) that I spent many an hour at my own piano and that nothing that is worth it comes easily. Further venting and frustration ensue, and then, of course, comes the progress.
This passage reminds us again that God has done the workmanship of our lives, that he has crafted each and everyone one of us with gifts and talents and assignments, and he has done so lovingly and individually. The word selected for ‘workmanship’ is only used one other time in the bible and it is a special one – poiema – where we get our word for poem. He didn’t write out a to-do list of jobs and possible talents – it was a poem, curated with love even before we the world began. That truth is worth stopping and lingering over.
But Paul doesn’t leave it at that, he goes on to say, ‘that we should walk in them’. This suggests partnering with us. We need to walk in them. The word used here is peripateo and although I am no Greek scholar I have learned that this word is about doing, about action, about making progress, making the most of opportunities. I like this word. It is clear that our gifting and purpose originate in Jesus, but the working out is done together. We have to practice, to invest, to make progress. That means identifying what God has gifted us to do and putting all our efforts into growing that gift by practicing, learning, taking opportunities, and stretching ourselves out of our comfort zone. We have a part to play in bringing to bear all that he has imagined for us to be and do.
Prayer — Heavenly Father, thank you that you love me enough to write a poem for my life. Lord, let me hear that poem as I go about my day today. Father, help me to walk out in these truths, partnering with you as I choose to invest in all you have given me.
Hannah Miller
@hannahloumiller
Hellosidekick.co