“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10
We are God’s workmanship, fashioned and shaped by the Master’s hand. Not merely created, but we have been worked on, or recreated, in Christ Jesus. What quality of work might you suspect from the Maker’s efforts? Dorothy Sayers once noted, “No crooked table legs or ill-fitting drawers ever, I dare say, came out of the carpenter’s shop at Nazareth. Nor, if they did, could anyone believe that they were by the same hand that made Heaven and Earth.” Paul writes that you are the object of God’s skillful labor. And God is not in the business of making junk.
But for what reason are you God’s workmanship? As we transition into a new year, it is natural to reflect back over the last year and to look forward into the next. What have I accomplished? What do I hope to be and to do? Paul writes that you are God’s handiwork for the purpose of good works that you might walk in them. Works of comfort and compassion. Giving and sacrificing. Even the unfashionable good works of self-denial and humility. What good works did God prepare for you this past year? What do you suspect are the good works God has prepared for you this next year?
On January 1st, a team of 15 people from Twin Lakes will travel south to the country of Peru. The goal of our trip is reach children for Christ through the ministry of camp and to assist the Peruvian churches in their outreach to the communities. We go with a willingness to learn from others, to place service above self, and to make much of Christ. The five day camp will be in the city of Trujillo over the course of the first week of 2016. We look forward to seeing old friends and forming new relationships as we work and serve alongside of our Peruvian brothers and sisters. We are excited to walk in the good works God has prepared for us.
As we travel and work, please pray for us. Could it be that your prayers are some of the good works which God has prepared for you this next year? Please pray for safety as we travel to and from Peru and that all of our luggage would arrive as well. Pray that we are able to relate well through the cultural and linguistic differences. And please be in prayer that we might walk faithfully in these good works sowing and reaping for the glory of God.
May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
As I onward go.
May His beauty rest upon me,
As I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel,
Seeing only Him.
– Kate Wilkinson