Father,
You are the God of
our salvation. You are the God who, at some point in our past, saved us. You
saw us in our sin and decided to act. So, by Your Spirit, you gave us new life.
You transferred us from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of Your loved
Son. You changed us in a way that no one else could. You made us Your children.
But that was not
enough. So, now, in our present, You are continuing to save us. You are dealing
with the sins that still remain. Sins that are so wicked. Sins that are
obstacles to our being whole people, holy people. Again, by Your Spirit, You
are making real to us all those promises about changed lives. We are becoming a
very different kind of people, so very different from who we used to be.
But even that isn't
enough. In our future, You will save us. The day will dawn when this whole process of
salvation will reach it conclusion. By Your Spirit, we will finally be the
people that You created us to be. We will be perfect in body and soul. And
while it will still be us, we will be so very different.
Father, this is what
You mean by salvation. This is what the Gospel is about. This is what Jesus has
come to do. We understand it a bit, but there is so much more to understand, to
appreciate, to enjoy. And while we will have an eternity to explore this salvation,
we have time now to make some progress on this. And so we ask You for the grace
to do that, to do that now. We ask for this because there is so much more of
Your salvation to experience even in this life.
But more than that, we ask for this so that our lives will be a means that You will use to reveal to the rest of the world what You are about. For some, it will be the means that You will use to save them too. They will not only hear the Gospel, but they will also see what it does. They will see changed lives. And that will make them want to come to You. For others, it will be the means to prove Your justice. Those others who hear and see but refuse to come will have no excuse when You condemn them.
But more than that, we ask for this so that our lives will be a means that You will use to reveal to the rest of the world what You are about. For some, it will be the means that You will use to save them too. They will not only hear the Gospel, but they will also see what it does. They will see changed lives. And that will make them want to come to You. For others, it will be the means to prove Your justice. Those others who hear and see but refuse to come will have no excuse when You condemn them.
So, Father, first
for the honor of Your name and then for the blessings that You have promised,
bless us so that we will show and experience what being saved by Jesus is
about. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.