Special Series, Day 5: What is Jesus doing today?

5. Jesus nourishes and cherishes the church.

“For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church” (Ephesians 5:29 ESV).

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Definitions:
a. nourishes – to nurture, to bring up¹
– to feed or sustain … with substances necessary to life and growth²

Jesus is nourishing God’s people—He is nurturing us, bringing us up in spiritual practices, skills, and graces. He is feeding and sustaining us with those things that are necessary to spiritual life and growth.

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Definitions:
b. cherishes – to warm, keep warm; to cherish with tender love, to foster with tender care³
– to take good care of, protect, foster⁴
– to hold dear, feel or show love to⁵

Jesus keeps our hearts warm with reassurances of His love, help, concern, and protection. He takes good care of us, holds us dear to Him, and shows His love to us in so many amazing ways.

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1. Larry Pierce, The Online Bible, CD-ROM (Winterbourne, Ontario: Larry Pierce, 2007), Eph 5:29.

2. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th ed. (Cleveland, Ohio: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2008), 988.

3. Pierce, Eph 5:29.

4. Webster’s, 252.

5. Ibid.