Jesus is the "Him" who "fills everything in every way." The NCV puts it this way, "the church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way." This sounds fantastic, but I am really baffled by what all this may mean. The Greek word for fullness seems to have a connection to a ship, in particular, all the personnel it takes to adequately staff a ship for it to function properly and efficiently. It also includes cargo and materials that may be on board. With all the people in place and all the stuff stowed away, it is considered full. I think I will stay with this ship metaphor for a while.
O.K., so the most obvious person on a ship is the captain - that's definitely Jesus. He is the one in charge! The boat goes where the captain determines it to go.
Isn't it hard to give up control? In today's world it seems that we want to control every aspect of our lives. We want to be in the captain's chair. I remember seeing movies where the crew on a ship got tired of the captain for one reason or another and threw him overboard in favor of a new person to fill that position.
I don't know about you, but the worst of times in my life have been when I deposed Jesus as the captain and placed myself at the helm. The ship (life) was traveling the path of least resistance - meandering here and there. I hope I learned a twofold lesson. First, I am incapable of filling the role of captain. Second, there is only one who is totally qualified to fill that position in life's ship. Are you full yet?
Blessings,
L.T.
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