Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Romans 11:11-12,
“11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!”
Understand:
In verse 11, Paul expressed that Israel was not past the point of redemption; they hadn’t stumbled beyond recovery.
I like how the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) comments on this verse, “Like a runner in a race, the Jewish nation had stumbled, but they had not totally fallen. Their stumbling had a purpose—to bring salvation to the Gentiles. Israel’s hardening is not the final word.”
God planned salvation’s history so that Israel’s trespass would open salvation for the Gentiles. The Jews, in turn, would be provoked to jealousy when they saw Gentiles being saved and enjoying a relationship with God. You can read about this jealously in Acts 13:45-51 when Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel in the synagogues. The Jews were so full of jealousy that they contradicted them and heaped abuse on them.
In verse 12, Paul talks about “riches for the world.” The term “world” is another word for Gentiles. If Israel’s sin brought salvation to the Gentiles, then the blessing would be even greater when all Israel was saved.
And how might their future blessing in Christ enrich the world as a whole? Isaiah 2:2-4 gives us a glimpse:
2 In the days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of the mountains. It will be lifted above the hills; peoples will stream to it. 3 Many nations will go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of Jacob’s God so that He may teach us His ways and we may walk in God’s paths.” Instruction will come from Zion; the Lord’s word from Jerusalem. 4 God will judge between the nations, and settle disputes of mighty nations. Then they will beat their swords into iron plows and their spears into pruning tools. Nation will not take up sword against nation; they will no longer learn how to make war.
Apply:
Take some time and think about the glorious future we have in Christ’s Kingdom. Thank Him for the gift of His grace and mercy as we live in the already, not yet reality of His Kingdom.
*From what you have just read and considered: What is a personal implication/application for your life today?
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.
Inspiration and insight for the devotionals came from the following books: Reading Romans with John Stott; The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World (The Bible Speaks Today Series), Stott, John; Romans (The NIV Application Commentary Book 6) Moo, Douglas J.; Encountering the Book of Romans: A Theological Survey (Encountering Biblical Studies) Moo, Douglas J.; Believers Bible Commentary; The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, with the New International Version, Romans through Galatians; NIV Application Study Bible. The Cambridge Bible Commentary, Romans, Best, Ernest. Romans 8-16 For You: For reading, for feeding (God’s Word For You – Romans Series Book 2, Keller, Timothy.