Formed For Function

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Two types of silver live at my house. Both types are beautiful—the work of fine craftsmen. Both are inscribed with scrolls and swirls. Both are crafted with dainty details. Both are masterpieces, valuable and treasured.

On the top shelf of the china cabinet, high above the crystal stemware and gold-rimmed place settings, sit the silver trays, proudly waiting to be wanted at a formal dinner or fancy reception. The other type, several pieces of flatware gathered from this great-aunt or that good grandma, finds a home among the everyday utensils. Many mornings these silver spoons are snatched from the drawer or dishwasher (I know, such horror!) and are used as cereal shovels by my sweet, sleepy daughters. Though the opposite would seem to be true, the trays who do nothing but display beauty at a buffet or brunch are often in need of a polish. In their idleness, they become tarnished—covered with an unsightly layer of corrosion which conceals their luster and shine. On the other hand, or literally, in the other hand, are the silver spoons, whose constant use and abuse keep them polished and pretty.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” By God’s grace, you are a masterpiece, the crowning achievement of a Divine Craftsman. You are the prize of God’s passion, adorned and inscribed with the goodness of Christ. God’s children are trophies of His grace and ornaments of His mercy, but we reflect Him best by getting dirty, not by collecting dust.

Good works don’t get us to God, but once He makes us His, we should get busy doing good. Our works are the result of our relationship with Him, our response to His fantastic goodness. We are formed for function, “created in Christ Jesus to do good works,” and God’s got a bunch of stuff ready for us to do, “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are to be useful not idle. Instruments and not just ornaments.

God didn’t save you to sit on a shelf. Get down and dirty in the drawer of everyday, and you will discover that in the mundane of life, you are God’s polished masterpiece, shining His glory and showing His grace.