Daily Devotions for Monday, January 26, 2026: Resting in the Finished Work

Experience the story: click the image above to listen

 

The Daily Devotional

Monday, January 26, 2026

Resting in the Finished Work

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” — Ephesians 2:8-9

Introduction

We often treat our spiritual lives like a complex equation we are trying to solve. We lie awake at night wondering: Is the variable of my church attendance high enough? Did I factor in the right Bible translation? Is my prayer life sufficient to balance the scales? These nagging questions about whether we are truly "saved" or "good enough" strike at the very foundation of our faith.

In this passage, the Apostle Paul speaks to a community that—much like us—was tempted to measure their spiritual worth by their adherence to laws and traditions. He dismantles the anxiety of performance with a single, radical concept: Grace is a gift, not a wage.

Reflection

Imagine you are at a busy international airport, preparing for a long flight across the ocean. You are standing at the gate, clutching your boarding pass.

If you were to approach the pilot and say, "Excuse me, Captain, before I get on, I need to tell you that I’ve memorized the flight manual, I’ve studied the aerodynamics of the wing flaps, and I promise to flap my arms really hard in my seat to help us stay airborne," the pilot would look at you with concern.

Why? Because your effort isn't what keeps the plane in the sky. The plane flies because of the power of the engines and the skill of the pilot. Your role is simply to trust the ticket you hold, board the plane, and rest in the seat provided for you.

Many of us live our spiritual lives trying to "help the plane fly." We worry that if we don't read the "right" version of the Bible or if we miss a Sunday service, the engines will fail. We worry that God is looking for a spiritual résumé filled with perfect memorization and flawless theology.

But God isn't looking for a co-pilot; He is looking for a passenger who trusts Him. The assurance of heaven isn't found in the quality of your church, the translation of your Bible, or the length of your prayers. It is found in the integrity of the One who invited you. Salvation is not a reward for the distinctness of your theology, but a gift for the sincerity of your trust. When we stop asking, "Have I done enough?" and start saying, "Thank you that You have done it all," we finally find peace.

Application

Today, practice the spiritual discipline of "putting down the checklist." Whenever you feel the anxiety rising—wondering if you have prayed enough or been "good" enough—stop and visualize that boarding pass.

Take a moment to say out loud: "I cannot earn a gift. I can only receive it."

Shift your focus from striving to stewardship. Instead of doing good works to get into heaven, do them simply because you are grateful you are already loved. Read your Bible not to pass a test, but to hear the voice of the One who loves you.

Conclusion

The foundation of our faith is not our performance, but God’s promise. You can be sure of your future not because of who you are, but because of whose you are. Let go of the need to secure your own salvation through perfection, and lean into the security of His grace.

Prayer

Gracious God, I confess that I often treat Your love as something to be earned rather than a gift to be received. I am tired of the anxiety that comes from wondering if I have done enough, prayed enough, or known enough. Please quiet my racing mind. Help me to trust that Your work on the cross was sufficient and that my salvation is secure in Your hands, not in my efforts. Teach me to rest in Your finished work, and let my life be a joyful response to Your grace, rather than a fearful attempt to win Your favor. Amen.

---

Devotional by: Kenny Sallee, ThM — Deming, NM, USA

The Bible texts are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible, copyright © 1989, 1993, the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.