Romans 9: 1-5
Romans 9
God’s Selection of Israel
1 With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters.[a] I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children.[b] God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. 5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.[c]
Just wow…i love how the very first verse states his authenticity of what he is about to say. It is his disclaimer to help people like me believe and take the next two verses seriously. I USED to think that i had a heart for the lost…then i read this, and i changed my mind. Paul had a heart for the lost. Paul lived for God. that is established. He had nothing on earth. It says that he was “in chains” when he wrote this, which to me implies that he was in jail or taken prisoner, so on that note, he didn’t have a whole lot on earth going for him. All he had left was the Glory he was going to receive in Heaven. In his selflessness, he says in vrs 2 that he was willing to be cursed forever by God so that Israel could have relationship with God. that is right, Paul was willing to be cursed FOREVER by GOD HIMSELF so that his people he doesn’t even know can be saved. If anybody knows how to curse anybody, i think God could take the gold in that. just think of everything he did in egypt with the plagues, think about the famines, think about Sodom and Gomorrah, think about the flood, think about everything God has done to those that aren’t faithful to him. If anybody knows how to curse, It is God. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to be cursed by God. would you??? the second half of that says, He would be willing to be cut off from God forever if Israel would be saved. So basically, that means, he was willing to be cursed by God for the rest of his entire life on earth, and after he dies, he was willing to go to hell. say whaaaaa??? exactly. i thought having a heart for the lost was buying them lunch and spending time with them to talk to them, maybe shedding a few tears if it is an emotional prayer session, but the thought of going to hell as a trade for their salvation had never came close to crossing my mind. just WOW.
i think i have something i need to start praying for ALOT more now. i think i have some people i need to starting waring for like their lives depend on it, because well, their lives do depend on it.
