Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.
Wow. What a chapter. Although we ended Acts with Paul just arriving in Rome, it is clear that this letter was written before he made it there. He longs to hang out with some fellow believers and reminds them that he prays for them every day. Allow me to take a quick side road here. Years ago, in a very dark and painful time in my life, I was encouraged by an awesome Christian brother of mine to “pray for my friends.” He knew my situation, and he would ask me to do that every time we spoke. In my mind, I had more problems going on than anyone else I knew, and I was expecting them to all be praying for me. And anyone else who cared to chime in. Not the other way around.
One night, I was sitting at the house, alone and in despair, and the phone rang. It was another Christian brother. He said he was waiting to pick up his son from Youth Group, and God gave him a verse for me. Job 42:10. I asked him, “Are there 42 chapters in Job? What does it say?” He replied, “I don’t know. Don’t have my Bible with me.” "Hold on. Let me get mine." “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends.” Job 42:10. Hey, here is an idea. Maybe I should start praying for my friends. Just know, from that day on, if I say I will pray for you – done deal.
Paul, then, reminds us that God’s glory is evident. You cannot look out your window and not see His divine nature. He goes on to say in verse 20 that His glory is so evident through creation that those who choose to suppress this truth (make an effort not to believe) are “without excuse.”
And then it really gets good. I think verse 22 is our current culture’s motto. “Professing to be wise, they became fools.” Have you ever seen a time when the experts, the media, the Hollywood A-listers, the courts, etc., model this for us? I bet I say this verse in my head at least once a day. Paul goes on to give the consequences of this arrogant disbelief, and it’s not pretty. But that is not for us. We are not ashamed of the gospel. We are children of the King. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God sees us as righteous. And try to grasp this thought: God thinks about you every second of every day. I can’t wrap my less-than-average brain around that one.
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.