Wonderful Surprises

         When I was a child, I always enjoyed surprises. Those were the things that were extra and you didn't know was coming. We usually got a basket of candy of some sort during the Easter season, usually on the Sunday morning that we now associate with the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. After I learned how to ride a bike, my first one was one of the most simple bikes ever. It had a frame, two tires, no chain guard and no fenders. Riding through water would put a damp streak up your back. I was really surprised when I got my first good bicycle. It had more extras on it than I could ever hope for. It had shocks, a horn, front and rear lights, turn signals chain guard, fenders and a beautiful gray and maroon paint job. Ephesians 2:5 says, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

        The book of Ephesians is filled with a lot of surprises. There are so many things that you never even thought about that have been given to us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The first three chapters contains a list of all of the spiritual blessings and then even ends in chapter 3 with a beautiful doxology. We often quote Ephesians 2:8-9 when we speak of our salvation and how it is not dependent upon our own works but is a gift from God Himself. The words, “...by grace ye are saved” contain one of the most beautiful passages in regard to salvation. I don't think I will fully understand all of the depths of grace but grace is grace because it is free and from God. If I ever tried to add one thing to it, it would not be grace. I rest therefore, in the fact that God gives it and that I am not worthy to receive it. The first three chapters also contains many of those surprises that I mentioned before. These are the things that I didn't count on nor did I even know anything about beforehand. One oft hem is the sealing of the Holy Spirit that we find in chapter one. It is there that Paul mentions the fact that we have an earnest of our inheritance. God has promised us an inheritance and the guarantee for that inheritance is the “sealing” of the Holy Spirit. I often think about this and realize that if He is the earnest of our inheritance, than how great is the inheritance. When I think about my “earthly treasure” I soon realize that I can last about eighteen months in a retirement home. After that, I'm homeless. I guess I won't last very long with that. The contrast is what we possess in our spiritual account that has been placed for us in the “heavenlies.” That is far greater than we can ever imagine. Now, God has always met all of my needs as I mentioned so recently but the best is yet to come and that is dependent upon that which has been already deposited in my heavenly account. There are probably many more surprises for us in that account. Praise God today for all of the wonderful blessings that we already have that are above all that we could ever ask or think.