Reading for Friday, 4th Week of Lent

Romans 8:28-39

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)

Earlier this week, I wrote of how much Paul’s devotion to the law of Israel had blinded him to the evil he was doing before he was stopped on the way to Damascus. Today, we can see the other side of that coin. No Christian ever knew more than Paul the extent to which we can deceive ourselves. Thus, no Christian knew more than Paul the depth of God’s grace.

In fact, it was Paul’s fanatical zealotry for the pursuit of righteousness that led him so far down the road of darkness as he tried to achieve a moral perfection that no man could accomplish. But without that fanaticism, Paul would not have known just how far the same Jesus whom Paul was persecuting would go to extend his grace and forgiveness. Thus it was for Paul, whose love of God – however flawed – was undeniable, that all things worked together for good in his life.

Wherever you are at this moment in your life – wherever you see someone else at this point in their lives – do not despair over those sins you can’t shake, your insecurities, the mistakes you see those whom you love making. As long as you, and they, love, trust that the journey to the source of that love has not yet finished. For as Paul concludes this act in his letter to the Romans, there is “nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:39 – Revised English Bible)