To Further His Kingdom

I have been reading through Romans since I arrived at OBU, and I stumbled upon something that was extremely interesting to me.

First of all, I'm going to tell you, "Go read Romans 9."
"Yes, that would be now."
"Yeah, I want you to go into the other room (or across the room), pick up your Bible, sit down, and before you go back to Facebook and check to see if someone else commented on the same status that you did, read all of chapter 9." :)

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Yey... You read it!! It's interesting isn't it? Did verse 3 stick out to you in any particular way? Well, it did to me. I thought it was very interesting that Paul said that he wished that he were cut off from Christ so that others could know him genuinely.

Let me put it in more simple terms: He would have rather gone to Hell, if it meant that his brothers in the flesh (Jews and other nonbelievers) would be able to know Christ and establish a relationship with Him.

How crazy does that sound? As a Christ follower, doesn't that kind of scare you? Just a little bit? Paul was being completely selfless when he wrote that to the Christians in Rome. He was saying that if it would further His Kingdom, then he would be willing to take the blame and punishment for them and other nonbelievers.

To me that is extremely intimidating. I cannot picture being in a place without my Savior right beside me. I cannot imagine being in a dark place, feeling the dark flames burn me to the core, and a never ending heat singing my lungs, and smelling the sulfur and the decay of life. How hopeless would that be, knowing that you were so far away from Christ in every way?

But Paul says, if it is to further His Kingdom, then he would take that spot in Hell. I will say that Paul does know that that could never happen, but in this letter he is being completely selfless and showing the Followers in Rome how much he loves them and how he wants to carry their burdens with them. I am astounded at Paul's love for these people and his passionate drive to further Christ's Kingdom.

Lately, I have been reading and learning a lot of things that I actually already knew but did not understand. It is an incredible thing to really understand what you're reading and not just have the knowledge about the subject.

This week, I challenge you to go to a book in the Bible that you have read a billion times, but for the first time really try to understand it. Dig deep. Pray for wisdom as you read His Word. Ask Him, our Lord and Savior, to reveal Himself to you as you read.