Daily Devotion

Monday, January 12, 2026  

Today's Scripture
Ephesians 4:1–16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. (NRSV)

Reflection

More than 15 billion miles from Earth, Voyagers 1 and 2 hurtle through interstellar space.1 Each probe bears a golden record containing sounds, images, and data representing life on Earth. Encoded within their gleaming grooves are greetings of peace and friendship in myriad languages, along with this missive from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: “This is a present from a small distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts, and our feelings …This record represents our hope and our determination, and our goodwill in a vast and awesome universe.”

If the Voyagers’ golden records have sustained the world’s imagination for nearly half a century, how much more might this reality: Jesus has risen higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe (Ephesians 4:10). And, Jesus left his church on Earth through which the manifold wisdom of God is revealed to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10).

The church’s unity glorifies God and serves a gospel goal: that the world may know that God sent Jesus and loved us even as God loved Jesus (John 17:22–23). 

Elect from ev’ry nation, 
Yet one o’er all the Earth,
Her charter of salvation
One Lord, one faith one birth; 
One holy name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food, 
And to one hope she presses 
With ev’ry grace endued.

—S. J. Stone, “The Church’s One Foundation”

Prayer

Written by Jeanette Chung, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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