Contemplative Bible Reading

Romans 2:18 (New Living Translation)

You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law.

Pardon the sermon. I don’t write those often, but here is one.

In the letter to the church in Rome, Paul provides many words concerning THE LAW. In the last few hundred years alone, the rest of us have written an Amazon warehouse full of words discussing Paul’s discussion of THE LAW. Allow me to add a few more.

Let me paraphrase and summarize.

I want a ticket to heaven. I want entrance into eternity worshiping and praising God.

I’ll work for God. God will pay me and keep track of my hours and pay. God has a good accounting firm under contract. I’ll eventually work off the cost of the ticket to heaven.

WRONG. Won’t happen. I’ll NEVER earn enough to buy my ticket to heaven.

So, how do I get a ticket to heaven? Simple. God gives it to me. What? Gives it it me? What’s the deal? No deal. God gives me the ticket. That’s it.

What do I have to do? I don’t “have to do” anything.

But this doesn’t make sense. Of course it doesn’t.

So, WHAT DO I DO?

As a show of gratitude (merely a show, because I can’t do enough), I will LIVE FOR GOD.

Note the difference: WORK for God versus LIVE for God.

All the mentions of “the LAW” in Romans carry the connotation of working for God to earn that ticket to heaven. All the mentions of GRACE in Romans carry the connotation of accepting a gift and living for God.

“I work for God,” some say with all the best intentions. WARNING: I know. This is just a “figure of speech,” but let’s watch our words. We live for God under His gift of grace. Let’s use those words.