October 15 - Pastor Bill’s Reading Plan

October 15    Romans 9

Paul's statement of his sorrow and anguish at the beginning of Romans 9 can be convicting for us as Christians.  He is so sad that so many of his Jewish brothers and sisters had not received the Messiah as their Savior.  He wants so badly for them to know and receive the truth.  His anguish is a heart of compassion and concern for those around him who do not accept the Gospel as true.  I say this is convicting because the question we need to ask ourselves is: how much do I care about those around me and in our community who have not accepted Jesus as their LORD and Savior? Paul felt sorrow and anguish over the lostness of those surrounding him.  He was sad because they had waited for a long time for Messiah to come and then they completely missed him when he showed up.  Paul's actions showed he had a deep desire to make Jesus known to people and see them come to faith.  He was reaching the Gentiles, but he by no means had given up on the Jewish people. He risked imprisonment and even risked his life because he wanted people to know the truth.  The intense sorrow and anguish that he felt drove him to action.  He didn't like the lostness around him, so he chose to act.  

Even to this day we should be praying for the Jewish people to come to faith in Jesus. We must pray for the safety and peace of Israel. We also must pray that the people there also turn to Jesus as their long-expected Messiah.  We also need to ask ourselves what we do about the lostness and hopelessness of those around us.  Do we ignore it because this is America, and they have their chance to know the truth if they want to?  Do we complain about the moral collapse and decay of society while holding the only Truth that transforms hearts and brings people into righteous living tightly within our church walls?  Or, do we like Paul, try to see people as the LORD sees them and in sorrow and anguish of their lostness do everything we can as God leads to go out and help people know what it means to put their faith in Jesus Christ and how the LORD can change their life? Paul did not have a 100 percent success rate in regard to people responding to the Gospel with repentance. Neither will well.  Paul did not let people rejecting the Gospel prevent him from continuing to share the Gospel. Neither should we.