Monday, May 24, 2010

The Ways of God and People and Ants

May 24, 2010
Today’s readings included: 1 Kings 9, 2 Chronicles 8, Psalm 136, and Romans 5. My devotional thoughts following the S.O.A.P Method are as follows:

Scripture verse that caught my attention today: Romans 5:9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.

Observation: If there is a “wrath of God,” Paul says that Jesus will save us from it.

Application: On the one hand, God has every reason in the world to have “wrath.” Humanity, in spite of our occasional bright spots, is a sorry lot. And interestingly, so is much of the natural world. Last night my wife looked out our front door and at first wondered who threw all the dirt across the side-walk. Upon closer inspection she discovered that there were literally thousands of ants gathered together there. And a still closer inspection revealed that they were not there for a nice little summer ant family reunion; no, it was an all-out battle! By the time this morning rolled around, the sidewalk was littered with the carnage and the only sign of life was a small group of ants who were still feasting on the queen.

This is the world we live in. And humanity, in spite of our bigger and supposedly more capable brains, sometimes doesn’t fare much better than the ants. And although part of me can understand why God might be very wroth, the other part of me wonders why we were created with such a propensity for sin and other evil in the first place.

Enter Jesus. Now let’s be honest. Humanity did not become significantly brighter after Jesus entered the world. Although he did provide an example that sometimes inspires us to be less self-centered and more interested in loving and serving the neighbor, such acts of love and service are often still a stretch—they don’t tend to come naturally. But that’s part of the point. Jesus has never loved us because of what we have done but, in fact, loves us in spite of what we have done. Ironically, whenever we take this love to heart, it actually inspires us to be less self-centered and, instead, more gracious and generous. But such improvements in our actions don’t make us any more valuable in Jesus’ sight. He’s already loved us enough to save us from God’s wrath. But it does make it easier for us look at ourselves in the mirror at the end of the day.

Prayer: Lord, now that you’ve saved us from God’s wrath, please help save us from the wrath in this world, including our own. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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