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 5:1-8,
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Understand:
Verses 6-8 are a powerful testimony to God’s love. In these verses, we see Christ dying for the wicked. Paul wants his readers to understand the nature of those—you and me—for whom Christ died: they were powerless, ungodly, enemies of God. Yet this is who He died for.
We’re reminded just how weak, helpless, without any strength, and unable we are to save ourselves. But at just the right time—God’s predetermined time—Jesus came and died for us. He didn’t die for good people as some would think, but for the ungodly. There was no virtue to commend us to God, yet Christ died for us anyway.
It’s really unbelievable; God’s love is completely supernatural! He demonstrated His love toward us by sending His beloved Son to die for us while we were still sinners.
Apply:
Think about the implications for your own life. How does the fact that God would move “at just the right time” have impact in your life? I don’t know about you, but for me there is comfort in this phrase Paul used. There is something reassuring in it. God, the maker of heaven and earth, the One who spoke and the universe came into existence, the One who created something out of nothing, chose to intervene and move at “just the right time.” He died for us…in our place. And why? Because of His great love for us.
*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.