Grateful Wallets
Opening Prayer
Father God, I am so grateful that You, in Your great love have made me Your servant.
Read Romans 15:23-33
[23] But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, [24] I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. [25] Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. [26] For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. [27] They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. [28] So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. [29] I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ. [30] I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. [31] Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contribution I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, [32] so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed. [33] The God of peace be with you all. Amen. 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
After visiting Rome, where did Paul hope to visit?Whom do you owe? Perhaps your bank, your parents, certain friends, the person who shared the Gospel with you? Paul describes the Christians in Macedonia and Achaia as consciously realizing that they were in debt to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem (26,27). They weren’t begrudging debtors either; they “were pleased” to give a considerable financial gift to Paul to transfer to the Jerusalem church because they felt that they owed it to them to help. Why did they owe it to them? Earlier in Romans (11:17-24), Paul explains how the Jews were like the root of an olive tree that has supported the Roman Christians, a wild branch, being grafted into the tree. Having received such staggering eternal spiritual credit–the gift of righteousness (5:17)–these Christians were now falling over themselves to provide material support to their Jewish sisters and brothers in Jerusalem. It isn’t easy to admit that we owe others in some way. The grateful attitude of these Gentile Christians is a model to us all: they were pleased to help, and they did so in a way that is often most costly–with their wallets.
Apply
How did you become a Christian? Who has helped you remain a Christian? Now, who in your life can you support?
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