Romans 1:18-23 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things."
Dear God and Creator of all things,
I grieve the rebellion of Your Creation against You. People know who You are. Some hate You for it. Others ignore You. Yet, others open their hearts to You.
Today, I am grieving for those who remain lost and estranged from Your love and embrace. Some, in their ignorance, live as if You don't exist. Others, in their pain, defy You, blame You, and even act against You in outlandish rebellion. You grieve for them all. I join in Your grief.
"The tragedy of life and of the world is not that men do not know God; the tragedy is that, knowing Him, they still insist on going their own way." (William Barclay in The Revelation of John, vol. 2, 1959, p. 167).
We spend our lives trying to paint Your picture in our imaginations. Like the blind men groping to explain the elephant, we wander in darkness, reaching out for some hint of Your reality. Our partial and pitiful representations of You resemble carnival caricatures of that which we observe in part, and understand even less.
Your Word reveals Yourself to us. Help me to know You in Your love letter to hungry, seeking people like me. Increase my love, my burden for the lost. Free my mind and emotions from judging others harshly. May the sentiment of English martyr John Bradford (1510-1555) be mine when I encounter those broken by sin: "There but for the grace of God, go I."
I humbly intercede for You to draw my lost family, loved ones, neighbors, and all I meet into Your loving and great salvation. May Christ be seen in me.
In the Name of Christ, my Lord,
Amen.
I hope and pray for Christ to be seen in me as well. If not Him, how can others see past me? I saw Christ in you and your wife at Camp Sychar. Thanks for showing Him to all of us there.
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