Luke 15: Three Stories about God’s Love

Scripture

²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Observation

As the subtitle above says, this chapter is all about the overwhelming love of God for people who turn away from sin and towards him. He is the shepherd who searches far and wide for his sheep, and calls his friends and neighbours together to celebrate when the sheep is found. He is also the woman, searching frantically for the coin that is the equivalent of a day’s wages (which tells you how much value God puts on us), and having a party when it’s found. And he is the father of the prodigal son, keeping watch for his errant son, even though he, as revealed through the verse above, basically considers him dead until he comes back.

Application

These stories speak of God’s love; they are also a very helpful reminder of just how much we mean to him, of the value he puts on our lives and the lives of everyone he has created. He thinks you are worth going to the ends of the earth for, whether you’re a Christian or not reading this, and if you’re not, he is seeking you! He wants you to be with him and receive all the good stuff that’s waiting for you. He knows that whatever sin you may have committed, whatever mistakes you may have made, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross has dealt with all of them, and all you need to do is turn and say Sorry, Thank You, Please.

Sorry for the things I’ve done that haven’t pleased You, Thank You for the gift of Jesus and his death and resurrection, Please come and turn my life around.

And he has great, fantastic freedom and eternal life to give you in return!

Prayer

Lord, I pray that someone reading this today will pray that prayer and turn to you. Thank you so much for the day you found me and celebrated over me – do the same for someone else today I pray. Amen.

 

Romans 1-2

Scripture

 

Romans 2:28-29

A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.

 

Observation

 

After having greeted the Romans, and explained how humanity got into an awful mess of sin (basically, through rejecting the idea of God in hearts and minds), Paul begins to write about how the Christians in Rome are to respond to the questions of the law (ie. the Jewish law, the Torah, being the first 5 books of the Bible, which gives the code of conduct by which Jews were supposed to live. This was seen as one of the things that made Judaism unique and gave Jews special access to a relationship with God). There were clearly Jews at that time who lived however they wanted, but relied on the fact that it was their race who had been specially selected to receive the law from God, and that was enough to save them from the sin that entangles everybody (Paul will go on to write in chapter 3 about all people having sinned and fallen short of the glory of God). Paul clearly states in these verses that the law is not enough, nor are the other Jewish rituals – salvation and access to a relationship with God depend on faith in Jesus Christ and the attitude of the heart.

 

Application

 

This is so easily applied to current Christian life. Every denomination has its own rituals and liturgy, be it confirmation, confession, prayers for certain days & times, hymns, praise songs, notices, ten-minute homilies, hour-long sermons (!), or baptism – and is that infant or adult, sprinkling or immersion? Ooh, careful! None of these are intrinsically bad, of course, and some are very good in my opinion. Some have been the source of debate as to their necessity throughout the ages, but I think they are all similar to the Jewish law in Paul’s eyes. There is no way we can rely on any of them for our salvation, if we don’t have faith in God, belief that Jesus was His Son, and subsequently an attitude that reflects his love.

 

Prayer

 

Lord, keep me focussed on you in my Christian life, not in how I am different or the same as other Christians. Jesus, I believe in you and want you to be centre and Lord of my life, and that is the basis of my salvation, and nothing else.