Saturday, December 3, 2022
- Reflection by Julie Higgs
Enlightened Hearts Called to Hope
Ephesians 1:17-19
17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
I love this text. I love both the idea that the eyes of my heart can be enlightened and that I can know the hope to which God has called me. This prayer reminds me of ELW Hymn #722, O Christ, Your Heart Compassionate. The third verse of this hymn never fails to stir me:
O Christ, create new hearts in us,
that beat in time with yours,
that, joined in faith with your great heart
become love’s open doors.
We are your body, risen Christ;
our hearts, our hands we yield
that through our life and ministry
your love may be revealed.
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My prayer—both for you and for myself—is
that our hearts would beat in time with Christ's,
that the eyes of our hearts would be enlightened,
that we would know the hope to which God has called us,
that we would hope as God would have us,
and that others would know this through our living.