Ephesians 3:14-21;
“14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
A little girl came to her father one day and asked him for 50 paise. The father reached into his pocket, and realized he didn’t have any change. All he had was a 100 rupee note. He knew that it was a lot of money, but he figured that his daughter deserved it because she had been a good girl. He decided to give her the 100 rupee note. However, the little girl said, “Oh, no, Daddy. You don’t understand. I want 50 paise.” “No, honey, you don’t understand. This amounts to a bunch of 50 paise. Here is the 100 rupee note.” But the girl didn’t understand. She cried, “Daddy, why won’t you give me 50 paise?” He tried to explain to her how many ‘50 paises’ are in one rupee, how many ‘one rupee’ are in 100 rupees. She was unable to comprehend his reasoning. Consequently, she began to cry and throw a temper tantrum. “Daddy, you said you were going to give me 50 paise. Why won’t you give me 50 paise?”
This is exactly what we do as Christians. We settle for the 25 paise coin, or the 50 paise coin; when God’s offer to us is far greater than what we could ever ask or think; 100 rupees, 500 rupees, 1000 rupees, or even greater? Now, please don’t take the meaning of this parable in its literal sense, and see God as the source of our material gain. Beloved, there is so much more in Christ, than what our external eyes can see. Our external eyes deceive us, blinding us from perceiving the “riches of His glory.” This is why Paul writes, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9). In order to comprehend what God has made available for us, in Christ, and that too, ONLY because of His grace, we must have our spiritual eyes opened. And my prayer for us today, along with Paul’s is, “16 that He (God) would grant us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; that we, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Stephen Thomas (Bobby)
Stephen is an ordained Christian Minister and a Bible teacher who is a mentor to several youth leaders in Crossway Church and around the globe. He is a regular visiting Speaker in Crossway Church, New Delhi. He can be reached at stephenthomas6400@hotmail.com
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