Be Strong In The Lord

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Ephesians 6:10

God is a God of relationships.  The whole of the redemptive purpose is to re-establish the relationship which failed because of the sin of Adam and Eve.  If we consider the Ten Commandments, we see that the first four refer to our relationship with God.  The last six refer to our relationship with other people.  In the passage which precedes our text for today, we find the Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, making some very specific points about our relationships.  The text before us begins a passage which explains to us how we can effectively have the kind of relationships which the previous passage describes.  As an introductory, and summary statement, he says, ‘Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.’  If we are going to succeed in any and all of our relationships, we must begin and continue with ‘the Lord.’  This brings us to Christ.  As we make proper use of the means of grace, it will lead us ever more certainly to Christ.  As He draws us out after Himself, our relationship with Him grows.  As it does, it has an inevitable effect on our relationship with everyone else.  This affects our personal life, our family life, our professional life, and our broader community life.  If we hope to succeed in all these relationships we must begin with Christ.

Our Gracious Master and Our God,
we rejoice that You are our strength.
We praise You that You daily enable us
to know more of Christ and thereby to become stronger.