Come One, Come All
Opening Prayer
Lord, I need to have a better understanding of who You are. I want to honor You with the respect and awe You deserve.
Read Romans 9:19-29
[19] One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” [20] But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?'” [21] Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? [22] What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath-prepared for destruction? [23] What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory- [24] even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? [25] As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” [26] and, “In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.'” [27] Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. [28] For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.” [29] It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Paul uses the image of a potter. How does that apply to you?Imagine you work for a successful family business. Your dad is the boss, so you are pretty confident that you will have a job for life–a job with regular promotions and plenty of perks. But then you are called into his office and informed that he is opening up your position to external candidates and you will have to apply for it along with everyone else. How might you feel? Perhaps outraged, hurt, angry, a bit baffled? On first reading, it would be easy to think this passage is all about predestination. Is Paul really saying that salvation is random and all God has to say about it is, “Because I say so. End of story”? Actually, I think the point of the argument is that salvation has been extended to the Gentiles and Paul knows this is going to be a blow for his Jewish readers. For the non-Jews who are being adopted into the chosen people, however, this is all good news; God now calls all of us “my people” (25), “my loved one[s]” (25), “children of the living God” (26).
Apply
Take a few moments today to absorb the implications of being a child of God. How has God had to be patient with you?
Closing prayer
Lord, give me Your heart of concern for people around me, especially those who don’t know You.
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