Today's Reading: Romans 10:14-21</h1>
What Might Make You Uncomfortable
The responsibility we have as Christians to tell people about the love of Jesus is rarely comfortable or convenient.
Today's Devotional
Christians today have a plethora of resources available to them to grow in their understanding of God: podcasts, videos, websites, books, E-books, etc. inform us of current applications of Biblical teaching and encourage them to live out God's Word.
It can be tempting, in the midsts of all of this helpful information, to confuse our mission as Christians. Sometimes we confuse "Come and Learn" with "Go and Tell."
Consider some of Jesus' last words on the earth, recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke:
GO and make the disciples (Matthew 28:19)
PREACH the Gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15)
you will be my WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ENDS OF THE EARTH (Acts 1:8)
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you (John 20:21)
Jesus gave us the command to GO and TELL.
Paul, after exploring the simple Gospel message in Romans 10:1-13, now pivots to explain to the Roman church their role in bringing this message to the nations.
It's interesting that Paul follows up his previous passage in Romans 9 about God's sovereign choice and ability to distribute justice and mercy according to His own will with this passage regarding the personal responsibility of Christians to preach the Gospel.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (10:14-15)
True, God is sovereign and yet He has mysteriously chosen to entrust His message of mercy to us, the church. How will the world know this simple yet miraculous message unless we will them?
The message of the Gospel can create so many questions. What about people who die without hearing the message? What about those who don't respond? What is our role in the process? Paul speaks to us today saying, "how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" We must go and tell.
We have a responsibility to preach the good news. It's good to come and learn - but our goal must be to go and tell.
Application
The value of telling people about Jesus and His message starts in prayer. Today, adopt an individual in your life to pray for who does not know Christ.
And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (10:14-15)
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