Tuesday, January 13, 2025

Romans 6:23

As you enter your time with God today, take a moment to quiet your mind from thoughts of life and this world. Breathe this prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus, come. Fill me with your Spirit. Open my heart that you might share your words of life with me today. I long to be more like you.”

We read today from Romans 6:23 Read the passage now or at the end of this devotion. What can we learn today about the power of God to save anyone from their sin?

If you ever made it to the summit of Mt. Everest, there is only one way down. Walking.

If you get to the top, either you walk down or someone else carries you down, and only under the most remote, perilous, and perfect conditions would anyone else ever consider carrying another person down the mountain.

There’s no easy way to descend the mountain. There are no elevators or escalators. The summit is over 29,000 feet above sea level. Such construction is preposterous. There are no roads for trucks or snowcats. There is no place for a plane to land. It’s too high for helicopters, even under perfect conditions with expert pilots to evacuate anyone from the mountain. If one were to descend to Camp 4 at 26,000 feet, a helicopter could conceivably get you out. But that would only happen in extreme circumstances and even then, it’s still a longshot.

The point is that if you get up to the top of Everest, there is only one way up and one way down; your feet. No other way works. You can try to take other ways. You can invest in lots of great equipment, machines, supplies, and even people to help you. But in the end, the summit is only reached on your feet. That’s how you get there and that’s how you leave.

That ‘one way’ understanding is how we approach our relationship with Jesus Christ. There is one way to salvation, one way to restored relationship with God, one way to know life and avoid the punishment of death. That’s Jesus.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans is the “Great Book of Grace” in the text of scripture. As Paul is talking about how sin has its hold on all people and its power is mortal in nature, he speaks of the consequences of sin in the lives of all people. Sin breaks us; it breaks our hearts, our actions, our words, our thoughts, our deeds, and most importantly, it breaks our relationship with God. God is holy, and that holiness cannot stand the presence of sin. Because each of us is sinful, we are lost without hope unless something changes.

And there is only one way for change to come that restores our relationship with God.

Jesus. With Jesus, we can know life. Without him, we know only death. With Christ, we can know joy. Without him we are despondent in our sin. With Jesus, we can know restoration. Without him, we are lost and alone.

Jesus is the way home. May he equip us to rejoice in the work he has done to bring us into relationship with him, and may we be inspired to show others the way home too.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his smile towards you and give you his peace.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I love you all. Blessings.

Feel free to share this devotion with others.

Some questions out of today’s text and teaching.

Are there times that you have tried to ‘earn’ the love of God? How does the understanding that Christ loves you without condition impact how you respond to him?

To contact the author, please email: elgersma@therivercrc.com