Sunday 4 Dec 2022

December 4: Romans 15:4-7

Key Verse: Romans 15:4
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Devotion:
How do you look at the scriptures? Do you see them as a series of laws and rules by which we should live? Do you look at them as a suggestion of how we should aim to live? Or do you see the scriptures in a different light altogether? How you see the scriptures will shape your whole life with God...

We can look back on the Israelites and see how they took the Torah as everything they had to live by. We can see how they could never live up to the rules and regulations and so endured a life in which they had to continually offer sacrifices and plead with God for forgiveness in order to draw closer to Him. We can, however, also see how God chose them to be His people and did so much for them in so many ways giving them countless ways in which they could be forgiven for the sin in their lives.

This is because God wanted them to have eternal life and not to be burdened by guilt and shame all their lives. God showed them the things in life which they would have to face but also gave them hope for a future which was yet to come. This same God also gave them, and us, Jesus Christ as a Saviour who would be able to pay the ultimate price so we would no longer have to offer sacrifices and live under the burdens.

Through everything God has done for us and for everything which is recorded in the scriptures, we should be thankful and happy it has all come to pass. This gives us genuine hope for a future with Him in Heaven; for this we should be trying to live our lives in the manner in which Jesus lived. Whilst it may not be possible for us to attain the level of righteousness He had, we can attain the forgiveness because He has already paid the price on our behalf.

Points to Ponder:
How will you see the scriptures this Christmas?

Will you praise God for all He has done?