April 15: Romans 1:1-6

Key Verse: Romans 1:2
the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures

Devotion:
So I decided it would be a good time to go through the beginnings of some of the letters to see what introductions we can gain from them. I say, gain from them, because we often think of spreading the gospel as going to each and every person or gathering and teaching others about what God has to say for and to us and what He has already done and said for us in the past. But this was not possible back then for Paul to do at the drop of a hat – just like it is not possible for us to do things at the drop of a hat any more!

They did not have a pandemic preventing them from leaving their homes, but the threat was almost as real. Many people were banned from teaching about Christ because the governors thought it would undermine society – not real society as we know it in the free world, but an oppressive society. It really does feel like that at times now, but we still have so much freedom in reality. The Internet has become our outsource and our library and our way of communicating!

Paul could not be all over the Mediterranean as he would have liked to have been – can you imagine the storm he would have made if he was given the freedom of flights all around the world and not just boat trips here and there! Paul was ready to go anywhere but was limited by what was available at the time. So he took to writing letters to the various churches. I’m pretty sure he would have written far more than the few letters we have left with us now, but none as significant as those which God made sure were kept safe for future generations.

This has all been promised to us through what the prophets had been telling us for so long before Christ came to visit us in person. This was already written down and shared amongst the people as significant truths they need to hear and know. That is why these letters by the apostles are so important to us as well – they tell us of the outcome of many of the saying of the prophets, outcomes which prove to us how God keeps His promises throughout time and the world!

Points to Ponder:
How do you keep in touch in isolation?

Are you keeping the gospel message going out?