Context:
Paul has been explaining how Christ's sacrifice has freed us from the law once and for all. He admonishes the Romans not to give in to sin, but to stand strong in their faith.
Text:
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood
your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were
publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by
side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and
joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you
yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away
your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that
when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For
in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and
will not delay. 38But my righteous one will live by
faith. And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him." 39But we
are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and
are saved.
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what
we do not see. (NIV)
taken from www.biblegateway.com
What do you hope for?
It seems no matter where we turn there is terrible news about our economy, even the whole world's economy. It doesn't take long for conversations to turn from the weather to the stimulus package or rising prices. Many in our own congregation have lost jobs or face job loss in the near future, and all have been impacted by the financial situation in our country.
Many are losing hope. They aren't sure where to turn to get help with house payments, credit card debt, or retirement plans that seem to be fading quickly. They just hope that they can scrape together enough money to get them through to the next paycheck. In the early days of the Christian church people were persecuted, fired, and even lost their property because of their faith. While the reasons behind our current difficulties might be different, the end result is unfortunately often the same.
Despite their difficulties, the Roman Christians stood firm in their faith, sympathizing with and supporting each other through their trials and tribulations because they were confident about the value of their faith.
This is a time for us to pull together in the same way. While we may feel that we ourselves are having financial difficulties, by reaching out and helping each other we can turn the focus from our current difficulties to eternal realities. Our parents and grandparents went through much tougher times than these, and God will help us make it through this time, too.
God really wants us to focus on the longer term. He wants us to be confident that our hopes for a heavenly eternity have been answered, and to be certain that he is in control, even when we can't see him.
How can you balance your near-term concerns with God's certainty of long-term hopes? What can you do today to help a neighbor who is struggling?
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