Romans-Passionate Christian theology

How many times have we longed to see family who live far from us, those we might not see but every few years on very special occasions? There are those we only see at weddings and funerals. We desire to see them because we share a love for them. We also have to admit that there are some people that it’s okay if we don’t see them very often. Some people are sent as blessings and some are sent into our lives as lessons.

Paul misses them all! Why, because of his abundant passionately “I live for Christ alone” attitude of service to God by extending grace to all with God message of salvation through Jesus Christ! That is the “secret” he says later in his letter to the Colossians. To really live is to live for Christ, trusting in him. Pesky personalities that are rude and crude does not matter.

Paul says, “Everyone I meet–it matters little whether they’re mannered or rude, smart or simple–deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation.” Wow, that is complete devotion, focus and commitment to what God has given him to be and to do! That is real life. That is living abundantly…without the “drama living” that the world dishes up daily. Hallelujah! Let’s live like that!

Romans 1, The Message
8-12 I thank God through Jesus for every one of you. That’s first. People everywhere keep telling me about your lives of faith, and every time I hear them, I thank him. And God, whom I so love to worship and serve by spreading the good news of his Son—the Message!—knows that every time I think of you in my prayers, which is practically all the time, I ask him to clear the way for me to come and see you. The longer this waiting goes on, the deeper the ache. I so want to be there to deliver God’s gift in person and watch you grow stronger right before my eyes! But don’t think I’m not expecting to get something out of this, too! You have as much to give me as I do to you.

13-15 Please don’t misinterpret my failure to visit you, friends. You have no idea how many times I’ve made plans for Rome. I’ve been determined to get some personal enjoyment out of God’s work among you, as I have in so many other non-Jewish towns and communities. But something has always come up and prevented it. Everyone I meet—it matters little whether they’re mannered or rude, smart or simple—deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation. And that’s why I can’t wait to get to you in Rome, preaching this wonderful good news of God.

16-17 It’s news I’m most proud to proclaim, this extraordinary Message of God’s powerful plan to rescue everyone who trusts him, starting with Jews and then right on to everyone else! God’s way of putting people right shows up in the acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: “The person in right standing before God by trusting him really lives.”

So it seems it is not just the people Paul longs to see, but God’s gift of salvation IN the people he meets. May we all live focused lives like that!

AND by the way, Thank you all for reading God’s Word with me each day. I thank God for YOU. I thank God for the many times you share His Word with others by passing this along. May His Word reach and teach around the world. Yes, I thank God for You…and pray for you every day.

Dear Heavenly Father, We repent of missed opportunities to show and tell of Your gift of salvation because we allowed drama or other world stuff to get in our way or at least slow us down. Help us to fully focus on You, be guiding by Your leading, trust you with all and love as if our lives depended on it…because they do. In Jesus Name, Amen