EMPOWERED BY FAITH
(June 17)
“He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave the power/authority (ἐξουσίαν) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn 1: 10-13)
What does this mean, “as many as received Him, to them gave the power/authority to become…”? When we place our faith or trust in the Lord and “receive” His divine authority in our lives, He also en-“trusts” us with power or authority, the kind that comes with being a child of a King. Different from our biological birth, over which we had no “author-ity” (as we were not its “authors,” not having chosen our biological parents or any of the other circumstances of our biological birth), our New Birth and New Life in Christ is a choice we make on a daily basis, to “receive” God as our Father and Primary Authority.
Today let me choose, once again, to be alive not only biologically, but to have “life abundantly” (Jn 10: 10), in Christ. Because I can. It’s both a great, dignifying power and a great, dignifying responsibility, which I accept this morning. “Our Father, who art in heaven,” I say at the beginning of this day, together with countless other children of God both on earth and in heaven, “hallowed be Thy name” throughout my schedule today. Amen!
