Romans - Part 5: ELECTIONSample

Who Rejects the Lord, Who Accepts the Lord?

Paul has been writing about those people who have rejected the message of Jesus Christ and those people who have accepted the message of Jesus Christ. He says, in verse 16, that some Israelites have accepted the good news, but not all. They all heard the message of Jesus Christ, yet they seemed not to have understood what they heard.

Paul quotes Moses, in verse 19, to show that those “who are not a nation” and “a nation that has no understanding” are those who have heard the message of Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as Lord and Savior.

Then, in today’s scripture, he quotes the prophet Isaiah; Jesus “was found by those who did not seek me and revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” Paul is referring to both the Gentiles of that day and in the future.

There are people who are not seeking or asking for Jesus Christ in their lives. Then, one day, they realize that He is there for them and always has been there along their journey in life.

When I was a child, I went to Sunday School and Church without my parents. Neither my mother nor my father went to church, but my mother had promised her father (a Southern Methodist pastor) that she would make sure her children would attend Sunday School and Church every Sunday. My mother would walk me the mile to church every Sunday through an orchard and put me in the care of a young mother in the congregation. I sat with her and her family every Sunday. I sang in the Cherub Choir and attended Sunday School and Church. The young mother would drive me home after church.

This arrangement continued for seven years. Then I told my parents I wanted to be baptized and become a member of the church. They both told me that would mean that I would need to be an active member of the church. I would need to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I would need to attend Church every Sunday. I would need to give 10% of my allowance to the church. I would need to pray daily, not just for myself, but for other people as well. They also said that my whole life would be changed. I wondered how my parents knew so much about the church when they never attended it. I told them I knew that this was what Jesus wanted me to do.

A month later, I was baptized and became a member of the church. My parents attended Sunday School and Church from that day forward; they recommitted their lives to Jesus Christ and became active members of the church.

We do not know what is in the heart and mind of each person we see around us. We do not know their background. We are not to judge because God knows the heart and mind of everyone. God’s word is for all who would listen and follow Him.

-Libby Cross