The Daily Word: Saturday, July 25th, 2020
2 Chronicles 14:1-16:14
Romans 9:1-24
Psalm 19:1-14
Proverbs 20:1
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Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. – Rom. 9:1-2
Why would the Apostle Paul – the man who had a face to face encounter with Jesus on the Road to Damascus – have “great sorrow and continual grief” in his heart? How could this man who saw signs, miracles and wonders everywhere he went have anything but joy? We know Paul had joy, because he told the church at Philippi to “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4). So why all this talk of sorrow and grief?
Paul had sorrow and grief because there were so many more people who needed to hear about Jesus. His work had been fruitful! But there was so much more work that still needed to be done.
We should live in this tension as followers of Jesus. We must be full of joy at the salvation we have been given! But we should also always have a continual sense of desperate longing that more people would be saved. There is a world that is dying without the love of God! And we must give our lives to make sure they get the message that Jesus is Lord.
Prayer:
Father, I am open and willing to experience the same “great sorrow and continual grief” that the Apostle Paul experienced. Help me to be joyful, yet still never satisfied, until every single person around me has encountered the love of God.
Archives
See commentary from this day in 2014.
See commentary from this day in 2015.
See commentary from this day in 2016.
See commentary from this day in 2017.
See commentary from this day in 2018.
See commentary from this day in 2019.
© Michael D. White, 2020. All rights reserved.