Focus314 Church

Day 12 – God’s Choice

Read it: Romans 9:1-29

Live it: If you watch enough horror movies, you’ll see a pattern in the minutes before the bad guy takes his next victim. An unsuspecting person comes home to an empty house, and a few minutes later, a noise outside or upstairs draws the character toward his/her eventual demise.

Sadly, seeing someone walk willingly into destruction doesn’t just happen in movies. Maybe you’ve got a roommate who dates all the wrong guys or a friend who refuses to get help with an addiction. When someone we love ignores the truth, we can so clearly see; it leaves us frustrated and heartbroken.

In today’s reading, the apostle Paul expresses a similar sadness over his fellow Israelites. The nation of Israel was God’s chosen people, but they were so absorbed with what they were doing for God, they didn’t see God in Jesus. 

We can go to great lengths to help those around us then lose heart when we don’t see results. But Paul reminds us that salvation does not “depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

People don’t save people; Jesus does. Just like God was at work in Israel’s story, He is at work in our loved one’s stories. And just like Paul never gave up on telling others about Jesus, we never give up on pointing our loved ones to the truth. Because at just the right time and in just the right moment, God makes Himself known.

-Ps. Jessica