“…and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all. And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” (Eph 1: 22 – 2: 2)
Is St. Paul alleging that we, members of “the church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all,” no longer “sin” or “trespass,” – hence we are “alive”? No, the Apostle knows that we are still works-in-progress, who still “sin” and “trespass” on occasion, falling short of the “fulness” of our calling. But St. Paul is, indeed, asserting that we are dedicated and “alive” to that calling; to God’s purpose for us. As he writes a few verses after the ones quoted above, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph 2: 10). So, we are blessed with knowing and following the Way that we “should walk,” however unsuccessfully or successfully that we do this. And we don’t imagine ourselves to be “walking” at all, whenever we have actually “fallen,” – as we imagined when we “were dead through the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, following the course of this world…”
Thank You, Lord, for making me “alive” to true “fulness,” Your “fulness,” and “alive” to the fact that “the course of this world” is not “it.” None of the “courses” or “princes” or “powers” of this world can ever fill the hole in my heart. Even as I might “fall short,” or “fall,” time and again, I can always come back, and be restored in and by Your Body that is the Church. Today I re-connect with You, in some heartfelt prayer, as Your grateful work-in-progress, that I may truly “walk” and move forward in You.