THE BOOK OF ROMANS Thursday – September 26, 2013 – Romans 15:23 “But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you;” What in the world could Paul possibly mean that he had ‘no more place in these parts’? Could he mean that all the doors had now been closed to him in that particular part of the world, or could he mean that he had preached the gospel to everyone in that particular part of the world? Perhaps it is a little of both; he had preached everywhere that he could preach, talked to everyone that would listen to him, and exhausted his efforts there and was ready to move on. Paul did not limit his witnessing to large groups, from what I am able to discern of him. He did not reserve his love for Christ to gatherings of people any more than Jesus did as He walked from place to place. Anyone and everyone who would linger long enough for Paul to say anything to, I am sure they heard the gospel of God. I wonder how many of us could say the same thing…. Paul had a calling. He knew what it was and stated it on occasion. In the book of Acts, chapter 20, Paul met with the elders of the church at Ephesus and told them, “…neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” He was pretty serious about his calling if I am reading this right. He is more concerned with fulfilling his calling than life itself. In spite of his great desire to visit the church at Rome, which he first mentioned in chapter 1 of the book in association with his prayers (“Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.”), Paul knew what his first calling was. He desired to visit Rome, but only if he could determine that it was the will of God that he do so. In reading the book of Acts we find he eventually did get to Rome, but as a prisoner, bound in chains (Probably not the way he envisioned his visit would be). Paul recognized that his desire to visit the church at Rome was a personal desire. He had heard about them, knew their reputation, and longed for their fellowship, but he refused to take time out from what he knew God was calling him to do simply to satisfy his own desires. Again I wonder, how many of us could say that. For the vast majority of us, if we were truly honest with ourselves and God, He takes second place in our lives (at the very best). We only attend church if it is convenient, we seldom go on any church visitation, attending Sunday School is just too early for us. Sunday morning is usually good enough for most of us, Sunday evening on the rare occasion, and forget about Wednesday evening services, we are just too tired. I wonder what Paul would have to say to the average church member today. What Paul was telling those elders of the church at Ephesus was that they knew his life, they knew his reputation, they knew his devotion. He was telling them to use his life as an example for how a child of God should live. Let me ask you today, if the entire church used your Christian walk as an example of how to be a Christian, what would your church be like? My prayer for today- Lord, I wish that I could say, as Paul, that my life was a worthy example of what a Christian should be. I wish that I could completely give my life over to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but my flesh keeps getting in my way. Help me to live a life, Lord, that others have no doubt who my first love really is. For these daily devotions/studies to truly apply to your life, you must first belong to God. He will welcome you because He loves you, even before you love Him. He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Scripture tells us that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation, (Romans 10:9-10). Won’t you confess today and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior? He is waiting with open arms…
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 10:21:00 +0000