Loving God, bless the needs of this dear reader in whatever they may face today; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Today's text comes from Romans 14:1-12:
1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6 Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." 12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God.
How big is our welcome mat? By that I don't mean the one that says either welcome, or "Don't Make Me Come Out There! - The Dog." How do you welcome those who believe a little different from you on certain issues. In Paul's day the issues were a bit different. There was the issue of dietary practices. Most of the meat available for purchase came from places that had first offered it as idol sacrifice. That is to say your steak might have been first on the altar to a Roman god before it hit your plate and you might not be kosher (sorry) with that idea. So you became a vegetarian. Then you get invited over to a fellowship meal with fellow members of your church and you discover they're having steak. Oopsy, what to do, what to do? Or the issue was that of following the Lord's Day. No established church on the Christian side for that yet. Jews had Saturday and still do; some Christians believed that they should too. Others said, No, we're Christ's people; He rose on Sunday and so we should worship Him on the day of His resurrection, after all we're Resurrection People! And you could see where the fellowship, meal or otherwise, might get a bit tense and the welcome mat slowly shrinks.
Paul says, in all matters, even death, we belong to God! Why spend valuable time judging one another? We don't have that much time. Our time is better spent in worship and serve to the living God, reaching the lost, the least, and the last. In the End it will be He who judges, not us. Meanwhile, let us sing praises to the living God in hopes of reaching as many as we can. Let us also be mindful that we are to be held accountable for what we did with our time.
PRAYER: God of love, may my day be spent in doing that which is pleasing to You. Not all people are pleasing to us and I should be mindful of that, but not in condemning thoughts or tones, but in terms of knowing that what I do today matter in Your kingdom. Let me serve and praise You while trying to reach as many as I can. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.
Eradio Valverde
