Paul always wished “grace and peace” to the people receiving his letters.

And no wonder! Because whether you’re following deceitful desires in the Twenty-First Century, or following deceitful desires in the First Century, you’ll need grace and peace.

For example, when Paul wrote to God’s holy and faithful people around Ephesus, he said, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 1:2).

Why did the people around Ephesus—and in Humanity today—need grace and peace? Deceitful desires.

They were like “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14).

They gave “themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they [were] full of greed.” (Ephesians 4:19).

Indeed, at one time, we all gratified these deceitful desires, following such cravings and thoughts. (Ephesians 2:3).

Fortunately, “because of his great love for us” God “is rich in mercy.” (Ephesians 2:4).

His great love and rich mercy manifest themselves in God’s amazing grace, saving us from the bad consequences of our deceitful desires. (Ephesians 2:4-5).

And the love of Christ—the peace of Christ—replaces our deceitful desires.

How?

God strengthens us “with power through his Spirit in [our] inner being, so that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith.” (Ephesians 3:16-17).

We become “rooted and established in love” (Ephesians 3:17).

Through the incomparable, boundless riches of God’s amazing grace expressed in his kindness to us through Christ Jesus, we “have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:7; 3:18).

I thought of this verse recently as my wife and I drove from Florida to California with our three cats for four days.

As we descended on Interstate 40 from the mountains around Flagstaff, Arizona, suddenly a grand vista came into view. Rocky terrain and pine trees surrounded us. Hazy mountains and mesas stretched to the horizon.

My wife, Suzanne, struggled to take a picture through the dirty windshield. But the camera in her iPhone was unequal to the challenge.  It could only capture a small portion of the spectacular, inspiring view.

And then I thought of how hard it is to truly grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is—this “peace of God which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 KJV).

The dirt—deceitful desires—on the windshield of our life can make it hard to see the love of Christ at all. (1 Corinthians 13:12).

And it takes far more than a single “photo” to convey how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is.

We see the love of Christ—the peace of Christ—as people struggle to overcome “rocky terrain” in their lives, their families, their nations, and their civilizations.

We see the love of Christ—the peace of Christ—as people savor “pine trees” growing where they planted love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control in the “rocky terrain” of their lives, their families, their nations, and their civilizations. (Isaiah 55:6-13; Matthew 13:1-23; Luke 8:4-15).

We see the love of Christ—the peace of Christ—as people are inspired to see beyond the dirty windshields, rocky terrain and pine trees that fill their daily lives.

Only then can they grasp the grand vista of the spectacular, inspiring ways of “[t]he LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness”, “showing love to a thousand generations of those who love [him] and keep [his] commandments.” (Exodus 34:6; 20:6).

No wonder this immense task requires more than one “camera”—more than one person.

This immense task requires ALL of God’s holy people. (Ephesians 3:18).

This immense task requires ALL of God’s holy people to speak the truth in love, growing and building up the followers of the Way of Jesus in love, as each of us does our part. (Ephesians 4:16).

This immense task requires that we preach grace and peace to ALL people, near and far. (Ephesians 2:14-22; 6:23-24).

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To learn more about grace and peace, please read my blogs “Grace and Peace—Galatians”, Grace and Peace—Thessalonians”, “Grace and Peace—Corinthians”, and “Grace and Peace—Romans”.

I said that Paul wrote to God’s holy and faithful people around Ephesus because there are reasons to believe that this letter was designed to be circulated to churches at Ephesus and in the region around Ephesus. (Ephesians 1:1 n.1; Colossians 4:16).

In a similar fashion, I remember that when our family visited Grandma and Grandpa’s farm (about once a month), we’d gather around the dining room table while my Grandma read us letters from numerous relatives who sent their letters to my grandparents, knowing and expecting that they would read them to everyone who came to visit.  Sometimes a photo was enclosed with the letter.

It was a far different world from today when we post photos and blogs on social media.