I think I finally will be able to pull of a short blog: I have trouble keeping mine concise, so this time I will give it my best shot to be brief:
My small group of high schoolers and I have been going through Romans this year, and recently I stumbled across a passage that I really believe can sum up the work that we as Christians are responsible for. Here is Paul's message to the Romans, chapter 10, verses 12-15:
"For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'
"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'"
What a calling. First off, Paul lays out the obvious, that everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved, but there's some major work to be done in order to get the word out.
How can those people in Rome, or Corinth, or Ephesus, or Swaziland, or Cambodia believe in the Lord if they haven't heard it?
Paul in the 1st Century, and we today are responsible for bring the good news of our Savior to those who haven't heard.
And for those of us who are sent, how could we get there if it weren't for the loved ones who send us?
How beautiful are the feet of not just those World Racers, but of the missionaries in the Middle-East, spreading the gospel to Muslims; or the long-term workers in Scandinavia, fighting off the growing cynicism among Europeans; or the families willing to commit 20 years of their lives to translating Jesus' words into the native tongue of an island in Papua New Guinea.
Not only that, but none of this would be possible without those willing to send us on our way out of the generosity of their own hearts.
Perhaps this ended up going on longer than I imagined, but this piece of wisdom from Paul couldn't help but speak to the heart of a Racer in need of blogging material.
Ou(r) feet a(r)e awesome.
