We continue with selections from The Justification Reader by Thomas C. Oden.
God not only gives himself, but actively enables the Gift to be received. The Gift is given with the intent of being fully and freely received. So intimately tied are the terms "grace" and "Spirit" that they flow together as if virtually interchangeable (Acts 6:5,8). In classic Christianity the Spirit was often called simply the Gift.
Before we begin our life of faith, we are given the Gift that is faith...the gift that puts us on the journey and enables us to continue on its way. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we leap off the edge of the way we want to take control and rule our lives and we begin to imagine the life into which God calls us. I think that "imagination" is the power of the Spirit to help us see beyond our ways of running the world and our lives. This Gift is one that promises new life and then...all along the way...new life does, indeed, arrive and pull us into the action.
Connection: We are given this Gift of life that is beyond us. It is a part of the very breath we take as we move along as the followers of Jesus. Therefore, breathe deeply today.
Breath of Life, lead us here and there. Take us and pull us into the domain of your love and hopefulness that we may take part in the blessed community that is filled with your beloved people of peace and wholeness. Amen
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