DailyRowe Devotional

Daily Devotional

Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

The presence of God is too important to take for granted.  Treasure His presence by doing everything possible to live there.

The first line in Ephesians 2:12 highlights that in the period prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus, non-Jews were “without Christ”. To be “without Christ” is to be without the presence of Christ. The implication of the statement is that non-Jews did not have any access to His presence. That was exemplified in the Old Testament in that the Ark of Covenant, which symbolizes the presence of God was kept in Israel; the only time that was not the case was when the Ark of Covenant was captured for a short period by the Philistines in 1 Samuel 3:11. So non-Jews had no access prior to the work of Jesus on the cross, while the Israelites only had limited access.

The death and resurrection of Jesus rang in a new era, that of full access to His presence for every nation and people who believe. That was implied by the veil of the temple being torn from top to bottom in Matthew 27:50-51 when Jesus gave up the ghost.  It then became possible for all humanity to access His presence at any time and from everywhere.  How should you respond to what Jesus has done? Do not take His presence for granted. Every time we fail to pray or worship the way that we should, we are taking His presence for granted.

With the joy that comes from being in God’s presence, we can only imagine the emptiness that mankind felt prior to the coming of Jesus. Since none of us would want to ever live through that, refuse to take His presence for granted.   

Life Application: Make whatever sacrifices necessary to live in His presence.

Prayer: Lord, May I never take your presence for granted. May I cherish being with you more than anything. In Jesus name,amen.