Daily Worship

Marked

Lily Cathcart January 08, 2020 0 1
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Ephesians 1: 13-14 (NIVUK)

13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.

We have been marked says Paul.

Are we branded like cattle in the old days with the mark of their master? Or perhaps like newer brands in the present: logos shining from our clothing, shopping and electronic devices; singing out for all to see to whom we owe our capitalist allegiance.

I’m not sure how I feel about being marked, by any of these things, or by God. I spent a fair amount of my life trying to hide my faith in plain sight from colleagues or friends. So have I been outed? Was I ever even as incognito as I like to think? Probably the answer is both yes and no. I haven’t been branded like cattle by God and, unless I choose to wear a symbol day to day I am not claimed outwardly by the ‘logos’ of Christ. But I am different since I heard and believed as an adult. To some it will have been in where they saw me start to spend my time, to some it will have been in the things they saw me taking time to do better or the people I took time to know more.

So perhaps the mark of God on us all is visible after all but it is not one of which we need to be afraid.

PRAYER:

God,
You mark us with your promise and your ways
You mark us with your love and your grace
Please teach us to see your mark in others and be proud to show it off in ourselves
Amen.