“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:7-8)
We continue listening this week to Paul tell us that our God is no reluctant Father – he really wants us – and we trip over the word “lavished.” It’s not a word we’re used to hearing in the Bible. (A quick search of BibleGateway.com brings it up six times in the NIV.)
We usually think of lavish as either “luxurious” (lots of gold, leather, intricate stitching, etc.) or as a way of heaping an obnoxious amount of good stuff on someone (as grandparents, rich boyfriends, and sports team owners do). In other words, we think of lavishing as being excessively generous to the object of your affection.
Exactly. That’s exactly what God has done for us – like a doting first-time dad filling up the baby’s room with giant stuffed animals and video gaming systems and a baseball glove – more cool stuff than a baby would know what to do with, yet.
God has lavished on us (because of our redemption in Christ) the riches of his grace, along with his wisdom and understanding. We don’t know what to do with it all, yet, but we know he’s given us way beyond what we need. We’ll never lack for any good thing that really matters with him as our Dad.
Think: Do you usually think of God as a Father who has lavished you with good gifts because he’s so excited to have you in his family? Why or why not?
Pray: As a Christian, thank God that because of Christ’s blood, he has redeemed you, forgiven your sins, and lavished on you the riches of his grace with all wisdom and understanding.
Do: Think about memorizing 1 John 3:1: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (Be sure to memorize the exclamation points, too.)