Have You Cracked the Code?

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

When I think of the term “handiwork,” it reminds me of a carefully constructed patchwork quilt. A few years ago, I learned that during the days of the underground railroad, quilts were carefully constructed to capture history, but also to transmit secret messages to those who were running away from their slave masters.  The quilts provided secret codes containing route instructions to the next safe resting spot.  The quilts had a greater purpose beyond providing warmth during the cold winter months.

Paul tells the Ephesians that they are God’s handiwork, indicating that God created them purposefully for that specific era in history, because he had assignments for them, which he prepared in advance for them to do. If this was true for the church back then, it is also true for us today.

It was never God’s plan that we be everything to everyone.  His purpose in creating us was not to keep us running busy and ragged throughout our lives.  The work that we do today is not about us, and not about our hidden agendas.  Paul reminds us that we are not independent contractors, but we have been created in Christ.  We are cut from the same mold, and from the same image.  We have been created to do good works, just as Christ did, and that work was prepared in advance for us to do.  In bringing us forth, God wove his secret code into our lives and then bestowed the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide is into his truth.

Beloved, have you cracked the code?  Have you discovered the purpose for which God created you?  Have you learned to say “No” to the commitments that do not align with God’s purpose for you? Have you said “Yes” to your true calling?  It is time to find and align with God’s intention for our lives in this world.  Only then will we find our way to the next safe spot, eternal life with him.  AMEN!