September 3: Romans 12:17-21
Key Verse: Romans 12:19
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.
Devotion:
Whenever I read anything where someone is saying we should separate ourselves from the wayward people, the evil people and the worldly ways I always cringe a little; God tells us to go out and spread the gospel. How are we going to go out and spread the gospel unless we go to people who do not yet know Him and are in worldly positions and doing worldly things?
Whilst I do understand we should be separate from evil because we may well give in to temptation (indeed we do from time to time) we should also be willing to face the world but with one provisor: we take God with us! There is no way we should be facing the world and its people by ourselves because we are sinful by nature.
So when people point out the Old Testament passages which preclude Israel from mixing with the foreigners, I like to remind them what Jesus taught the disciples. The apostle writes here how we should be willing to feed our enemy when they are hungry and to give them water to drink when they are thirsty. This is not saying we should side with the enemy, simply saying we should be willing to treat them as human beings!
When we are able to show kindness to our enemies, they will start to think twice about why they are our enemies. When we do not exclude non-believers from our churches we will show them there must be something they are missing. Disciples go out into the world with Christ by their sides, but it’s also OK to stay indoor with Christ because you need a rest!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get angry with others who don’t do what you do?
Will you try to include someone who needs the truth?