Do You Have A Personal Story that Magnifies the Ideas in Romans?
Good Morning Friends,
I suppose on the anniversary of his birth I could write a devotion on Antonie van Leeuwenhoek the father of modern microbiology and why God is to be magnified in our life but the real focus is about putting a bit of scripture under the microscope to see what might be learned especially from the book of Romans. And having said that I still think we have a little time to honor Leeuwenhoek for although he was not the inventor of the microscope, he advanced it more than anyone else for seeing living things.
He was born into the Dutch Reformed tradition, which encouraged man’s investigation of God’s handiwork in nature. He often referred with reverence to the wonders God designed in making creatures small and great. The legacy of Leeuwenhoek, although he did keep many of the secrets of his work to himself, is that he demonstrated in his life the awe and wonder that can only emanate from a person who has a joyful, personal relationship with God the Creator. Who knows maybe Leeuwenhoek lived a life that helps us to understand today’s scripture a little better. You see a lot of people find the book of Romans difficult to digest. And the reason is because the book that does not include parables or poetry, miracles or stories or anecdotes about Jesus or anyone else for that matter. It is a book about the mind and the thoughts and concepts that give us a way of thinking about how to live as a Christian. Do You Have A Personal Story that Magnifies the Ideas in Romans?
Scripture: For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self ,but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
Romans 7:14-8:2 (NRSV)
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27 (NRSV)
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Psalm 139:17 (NRSV)
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
Luke 1:46 (KJV)
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Romans 11:13 (KJV)
Message: The book of Romans is about ideas, pure ideas like being the hands and feet, the eyes and ears for Christ. It is a book about the thought of Jesus’ body broken for us but reconnected through us to bless the world with the force of His immeasurable compassion and creativity. It is about living a life that is freed. This is not history but a thought that inspires future history. And who knows it may have been an inspiration for Leeuwenhoek for Romans is not a story but the framework for every story that matters. Not one of the gospel stories about Jesus’ life is found in the book of Romans. Not one story. Just ideas. And these ideas are about Christ, who is the mind and heart and incarnation of God. Today’s devotional focuses on one fundamental idea that is found in Romans, chapter seven…the idea that we have been freed to bless others. And this chapter has become a favorite of many because its ideas are so true about human nature. There is of course an inner conflict that intensifies for each of us who seek to honor God. Paul’s letter to the Romans confronts us with the challenge of being truly and profoundly grateful for our own rescue from death…the victory over sin. We struggle with sin and battle like Paul with the self-life. And it seems we do not understand ourselves at all. We sin and know we are sinning. We cannot seem to do right…we are locked in a battle we cannot win through our own actions…we are miserable until we embrace the victory, deliverance and freedom of Jesus. For all who believe in Him have been promised the Holy Spirit and the knowledge that God is our Father…that we are His children… that the Holy Spirit dwells in us giving us new life and the righteousness we need to be in His presence….His immeasurable compassion and creativity and joy that overflows in us. Friends, sometimes we know that certain things are wrong and are unable to fix them on our own. Sin is living inside us. Pain and sin, pits and pride, prayer and deliverance are all related. What connects them is a reaction of place and person, direction and discipline connected to our own personal story. Sin begins in the heart like covetousness and so does the resolution of sin. Here His Story and our personal history can magnify our understanding of not only human history but converge to be part of the story of Holy History. So put your own life under the microscope…. that makes the reading more memorable.
Pray we realize that in Christ we have been freed to serve a purpose that can be a blessing to others. Pray we are thankful enough to honor God in new and creative ways that captures the ongoing process of our own sanctification story. Pray that we look to those who live according to the Spirit and set their minds on things of the Spirit. Pray that we desire to do God’s will. Pray that Jesus’ immeasurable compassion would be in us now, bringing our minds peace as our hands and feet serve Him with love. Pray we are drawn to the Savior when the law shows us the depth of our depravity. Pray we grasp the Savior’s outstretched hand when our sinful passions spring to life. Pray we realize our hopeless and helpless condition. Pray we accept the love our gracious redeemer offers. Pray we grasp on to the idea and the story of love. Pray we know ourselves in relationship with God. Pray we magnify the Lord in our lives.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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