Tag: God

Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:11

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“Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When I was growing up, we had a golden retriever named Ginger. She was a really good dog. I’ve never had another dog since. I still remember the last time I took her for a walk before we had to put her to sleep. In any event, when she was a puppy, the rule was that she couldn’t leave the kitchen. She could enjoy our full, big backyard, but in the house, the kitchen and dining room was the extent of her domain. The stated reason for this was so she didn’t make the rest of the house dirty. The real reason was that every time my dad got home from work, she would get so excited to see him that she would pee all over the floor. Linoleum is easy to clean, and we cleaned it a lot. Carpet…not so much. She had lots of zeal, but not much diligence. Today we’re going to keep working our way through Paul’s list of specific instructions giving us a framework for what it looks like to follow Jesus. And unlike our previous couple of attempts, I’m not even going to try to tackle more than one verse. Let’s dive in.

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Morning Musing: Romans 11:33-36

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“Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Sometimes the right response is praise. The right response to what? Well, all sorts of different things. A really good experience. A really hard experience. A particularly incredible gift. An especially profound idea. That last one is what drives Paul to praise here at the end of Romans 11. Expressions of praise in the Scriptures are always worth pausing to reflect on because the author is saying things about God that are true and worth not only knowing, but celebrating. So, what does Paul have to say about God here? Let’s take a look.

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Morning Musing: 1 Timothy 2:1-2

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“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What do you do when you don’t have any power? Well, one approach is to try to get some power. That would seem to make sense. After all, power is a good thing. We all want to have some power. But what about when that’s not an option? What then? You could gripe and complain. You could punish those who do have power by making their exercise of it as complicated and uncomfortable as possible. Neither of those, though, seem like terribly positive options. Much to the contrary, they will likely make things vastly more difficult for us. There is another way, though. Paul outlines a third way here could make quite a difference indeed. Let’s talk about the best thing to do when you don’t have any power.

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Morning Musing: Romans 10:14-17

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“How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.’ But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’ So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things that irks critics of Christianity more than many other things we do is our constantly trying to share our faith. Why are Christians so pushy with their beliefs? Why can’t they just leave other people to believe what they want rather than going around telling them they’re wrong all the time? What arrogance to think they know better than everybody else what’s right. What’s the big deal? What Paul says here has a lot to do with it. Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

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Morning Musing: Romans 10:4

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“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes…” (CSB – Read the chapter)

It’s hard to know what something is unless you know what it’s for. But if you get what it is for wrong, you’ll get what it is wrong too. Perhaps the best illustration of this comes from Scuttle the seagull in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. When Ariel brings him a fork, he identifies it as a “dinglehopper,” used by humans for doing their hair. Among followers of Jesus there is an occasionally robust debate about the purpose of the Law of Moses in light of Christ and His ministry. Paul gives us an important clue here. Let’s talk about it.

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