November 30, 2020
Our Seeking God — Romans 15:8-13
Dr. Larry S. Lightner
Read Romans 15:8-13
Grant Murphy was an active man, running at full throttle. A friend called him hyperactive. Things were fine, he thought; then multiple sclerosis began to slow him down. First, he needed crutches, then he was limited to his chair, and finally he was confined to his bed.
Nearing his death, he could barely talk; yet in a whisper, he only expressed joy and thankfulness for the sure hope he had in Jesus Christ. He was living in anticipation of spending his eternity in the presence of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Grant had sure hope. When God desired Grant to respond to His grace and mercy, Grant responded with a great “yes” for his Savior.
His last repeated words were from Romans 15:13 as he told a friend his sure hope was captured in his believing, with joy and peace, in the great hope of the Holy Spirit.
Even though God spoke that the Jews were His chosen people, He never abandoned the remaining human population. After all, God created each one that exists upon the earth; there is none without value to Him. God wants us to see those He has created just as He sees them—loved, valued, and without labels. God loves all; none remains unloved. In my younger days, I had a college professor defined the word “all.” All means all, and that is all, all means. God desires that all would come to Him, that none would perish (2 Peter 3:9). Tragically, many choose to ignore God’s sure Hope, sure Peace, sure Joy, and sure Love.
With this truth in mind, we can read the passage in Romans with assurance that every Jew and every Gentile (literally, then, the entire world) has opportunity to come to belief in Almighty God (John 3:16). Paul, in the focus verses we read (Romans 15:8-13), liberally quotes from five OT passages to make clear that God is a seeking God, leaving no one out from His seeking grace, seeking mercy, and His seeking without any trace of a held back availability to come to belief in Him. How blessed we are. He is a God above every god that humans might attempt to design. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts; His ways are higher than our ways.
How are we doing in extending to all people we know, and even to the many we do not know, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? This is what the seeking God expects of us—to spread the fame of Jesus, our Treasure, our Lord, and Savior.
Life Application
God created us to glorify Him, to see others’ value as He values them. How we relate to others is indicative of living out the expectations of our great God. Others will see God more clearly, as we grow and love Him. For most of the world, they only know of God by watching how we live out our lives and observing our relationships with others. How are we doing?
God’s plan to provide Jesus Christ is a clear demonstration that He, God, fulfills every promise He makes to us.
Prayer
- The Advent season helps us look back at what God has done, and offers us great hope for our future. Pray that God will keep your focus on the sure hope He offers.
- The Advent season is personal, yet it is a time of expressing our sure hope. Pray that God will keep our eyes, ears, and heart attentive for others in our neighborhoods and community that they might come to Christ in these closing days of 2020.
