Thought of the day
Here's the story this whole series has been telling, one more time, all the way through: you were dead, but God made you alive with Christ. You were far away, but Jesus brought you near. You were a stranger, but God made you family. You're being strengthened by His Spirit, formed into someone who looks more like Jesus, learning to walk that out in your home, your marriage, your ordinary Tuesday. And now, at the very end of the letter, Paul says: you've been made alive, and now you're sent.
Paul writes, "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Notice the order. New creation first. Ministry second. You're not sent in order to earn what Jesus already gave you. You're sent because of what He already gave you.
This series ends the same way it began: not because you're strong enough for whatever's next, but because Jesus has already won. The armor isn't about being impressive. The mission isn't about having every answer. It's about remembering what it was like to be dead, far away, and a stranger, and refusing to forget it now that you're alive, near, and family.
Somewhere in your life is someone who needs exactly what you were given: a truth that interrupts the lies they've believed about themselves, a family willing to bring them near, a patient love that doesn't give up on them. You don't have to go overseas to be sent. Sometimes it's across the driveway, the office, or the dinner table.
Today, as this series closes, don't just remember what Jesus has done in you. Ask who He might be sending you toward next.