Reflections from May 21, 2010

At the start of Romans in my bible, it gives a pictorial view of Romans by saying, "This book may not be the easiest reading, but it is profoundly rewarding. Among the peaks of Scripture it looms like the Himalayas. Scaling these vistas will give anyone's mental faculties a real workout--but the view is incomparable!

Romans chapter 7 is one of those workouts, where Paul tells of the internal struggles between flesh and sin, and God and righteousness. He describes the situation in such a manner that it almost seems like all hope is lost, because he is subject to the sin that his flesh obeys, even though it is his will to do the good and moral things that God wants him to do. However, he tells of his hope at the end of this chapter where he says in Romans 7:24-25, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."

Through his writing of this chapter, Paul was describing a realistic appraisal of his spiritual life where he measured himself against the high and holy expectations that God has for all of us, what is mentioned here as the law. The more Paul became aware of what God wanted, the more aware he became of his inability, in his own strength to live as God wanted.

The only answer to Paul's wretched condition--and to our own--is Jesus Christ. Only Jesus makes it possible to fulfill the righteous requirements of a holy God. Paul's honest review of himself led to hope. And this is the same hope we can have. In confession we can find God's forgiveness. In admitting weakness we can find strength. If we deny our condition, we deceive ourselves, and doom ourselves to lives enslaved to sin. A realistic view of our shortcomings will help us accept God's assessment of us as sinners, and help us turn to Him for forgiveness and restoration.

Proverbs 21:2 tells us "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts."

This is (to me) where Paul was before he knew Christ, and then he started weighing his own heart as he became knowledgeable of how God wanted him to live. We view ourselves through rose colored glasses, seeing only the good in our lives, that we are righteous, loving and kind. But God knows what lies deep in our heart. In all of us, there is the dark side that is there, and God knows about it. Just as Paul did, we can go to God, and through Jesus have this cleansed by His blood, and receive the wondrous salvation of the Lord.

We read today in Proverbs 22:3, "A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished."

Do you ever see trouble ahead? Do you take the time to look down the road to see if there are any dangers that you need to adjust your driving for? If you saw a car coming that's weaving in and out, would you get out of the way? Of course you would! By not doing so, it's quite possible you'd be hit, and then hurt or killed, in other words, punished.

That's what wisdom and can do for us. Webster tells us that one who is prudent is "marked by wisdom or judiciousness." With the wisdom of God, we can see the evil in our lives, and hide from it behind a strong hedge of protection that comes from God (Job 1:10).

Blessings to all