Monday, December 16, 2013

Advent Archive: Romans 2:1-10

In Matthew 6, Jesus says,
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
When He said these words, He had just finished a message about how the birds and the lilies never have to worry about food and clothes because God takes care of it for them. The springboard-point He then makes is that we don’t have to live our lives for clothes and food and temporal, non-lasting things, a Providential God will provide the things for us that we need. Rather, we should live for eternal things, things that build the kingdom of God. The old hymn
“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” tells how that when we finally turn our gaze toward the things of Jesus the things of this world “grow strangely dim.” I agree with the old preacher, Leonard Ravenhill, in his assessment of this song that if we truly turn our eyes on the Holy and Righteous God, the things of this earth will not just grow strangely dim, but will ultimately “look strangely grim.”
Paul segues this thought in Romans 2:6-7, when he says
“God will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life:”
Often we can get side-tracked and think that the end of the Christian experience is “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Yes, believe and you will be saved. But God’s design for your life doesn’t end that day, otherwise He would have just taken you to heaven. He has left you here, but not so that you can be biblical dead weight. He left you here so that, as Paul said, you can live “by patient continuance in well-doing…” Now, live that way. It is a call to godly living, not a life of blatant indifference. Live for Him.

Food for Thought: According to Christ and to Paul what should we be seeking? According to Romans 2:6-7, how can we live a life that seeks this?

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