We all want to know what the future holds. Horoscopes may tie
our future to tall, dark strangers, crossing waters or successful business
opportunities but the Bible has more to offer than socialising, travel and
money. All our passages cast a glance to the sort of future God offers us.
In 1 Kings 3 Solomon wants his reign as king to be marked by
wisdom and we read a graphic account of his lateral thinking in deciding which
of 2 women is the baby’s mother. God answers his prayer and the Book of
Proverbs is part of Solomon’s legacy.
Ezekiel 34 promises that God will be a true shepherd to his
people, replacing their self-serving leaders.
The shepherd will search for his straying flock, bring them back, find
good grazing for them and heal them. This is a picture of loving, nurturing
God, actively involved in people’s lives and we cannot read it without thinking
of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to whom the passage points.
In Ephesians we find out more about the future God offers us.
It includes the wisdom Solomon sought as we find out more about who God is,
what He has done and how He wants things to be. It also includes the power to
transform us, power which is already at work as God brings his purposes about.
Someone once said to me, ‘Become what you are’. In Ephesians
we see that God has already made us new. The future is about working out what
that is and playing catch-up.
(member of the
congregation)