As part of my own daily devotions I hope to post my own paraphrases of the the Daily Lectionary here on my blog (along with a short reflection on one or more of the readings). God willing, this will not be a short term thing.

Ephesians 1:1-10
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus, chosen by God,
to the holy ones who are in Ephesus
and faithful in Christ Jesus:
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing from heaven through Christ.
Before the foundation of the world,
he chose us in Christ to be holy and without blemish before him.
And in love he destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ,
according to the good pleasure of his will,
and for the praise of his glorious grace,
which he gave us in the Beloved.

In [Christ] we have redemption by his Blood,
the forgiveness of transgressions,
according to the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.
In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us
the mystery of his will , according to his favor,
which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of times,
to gather together all things in Christ,
whether in heaven and on earth.

Psalm 98:1-6
O sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous things;
His right hand and his holy arm have won victory for him.

The LORD has made his salvation known:
and in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
And all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all you lands;
break into joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and a melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.

Luke 11:47-54
[And Jesus] said:
“Woe to you who build tombs for the prophets
whom your fathers killed.
Truly you bear witness and give consent
to the deeds of your ancestors,
for they killed them and you build their tombs.
Therefore, the wisdom of God said,
‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;
some of whom they will kill and persecute’
so that this generation might be charged
with the blood of all the prophets
shed since the foundation of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who died between the altar and the sanctuary.
Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”
As [Jesus] said these things to them,
the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him
and to provoke him about many things,
for they were lying in wait for him,
plotting to catch him saying something
that they might bring an accusation against him.

Reflection for Today – On Ephesians
Paul writes some amazing things in the first chapter of this book, and the following statement is a prime example of such.  Paul states that “before the foundation of the world, he chose us in Christ to be holy and without blemish before him. And in love he destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
and for the praise of his glorious grace, which he gave us in the Beloved.”

As others have said and written before me, we do not chose God, but rather God chooses us.  Without getting into the whole issue of predestination versus free will, I believe that Paul is talking about God’s desire to be in relationship with all humankind.  This is what God has chosen, and this is the destiny of every human being.  We were made to be children of God, and for Paul the process of becoming a child of God is centered in the salvific work of Jesus, through whom we are adopted into God’s family. 

This is something worth celebrating, and this is something that I have on more than one occasion pointed out to my lovely and adopted daughter Desiree.  I have told her that while other parents may be “stuck” with the children that are born to them (please don’t take this too literally), her mother and I chose to adopt her.  Our love for her was so great that we wanted her to be a part of our family regardless of the fact that she was not our natural-born daughter.  In essence, I tell her that she is, in my opinion, as loved or even more loved than if she had come to us through the normal fashion.  This is, I believe, how God feels about us.  And this love of God is so great that God would do anything possible for us to know and experience it.  Even if that costs him the life of his “only begotten Son. “