“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live” (Acts 22:21-22).
Creator God, You are the One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:6). From one man You made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and You marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands (Acts 17:26). In Your great design You had a plan and a purpose for humanity.
Yet, Lord, how often we misunderstand Your plans and Your purposes! How often we create our own ideas for their fulfillment! How set we become on our own vision, how entrenched in our own ideologies, our own biases, our own agenda, our own interests, our own religion!
Father, You did not give the world a religion, but a gift of redemption to reconcile souls to God. In Your vast and infinite love, You had determined that "all nations on earth" would be included (Genesis 18:18). You offer eternal life to souls from every nation, tribe, people and language (Revelation 7:9).
The apostle Paul faced opposition as he tried to explain this to a religious crowd. A crowd whose religious hearts held fast to boundary lines. A crowd whose religious anger demanded the apostle's condemnation (Acts 22:21-22).
Religious mindsets could not—still cannot—understand Your gift of love. Because religious eyes mask sin. Religious pride denies our inability to reach God by human efforts. Religious ambitions build hierarchies, create monuments, seize opportunities for power and recognition. Religious thought processes see people as pawns to be manipulated instead of lost souls in need of saving. Religious resentment baited, berated, and indicted the sinless Saviour of the world.
You call us, Lord, not into religion, but into a grace that includes all—a grace where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). A grace, though free to all who accept Your forgiveness, came at the cost of Your unimaginable sacrifice.
Thank You for valuing our soul so much that You paid its ransom with Your own life. Thank You for Your offer to all who are thirsty to drink from the living water You offer (John 4:10; John 7:38). Thank You for Your open invitation, Whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24).
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