November 24

It would certainly be easy to see why the Jews might become somewhat arrogant because of their standing with God. God had promised Abraham that “all the nations of the earth will be blessed through your seed” (Genesis 12:1-3). God had delivered them from Egypt. God had given them the Promised Land. The Messiah sent by God to save people from their sins was a Jew. And it was the Jews who first received this Good News of God’s redemption.
But, the truth is, “no one is good” on their own (Romans 3:10). Next to God, we all resemble “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard of holiness” (Romans 3:23). Consequently, all of us are in need of a Savior, Jew and Gentile alike (Romans 1:16). And none of us can be made right with God by obeying the Law because none of us are capable of doing so. Paul says, “we are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins” (Rom.3:22). Faith is totally trusting God whether we fully understand what God has promised us or not (Hebrews 11:1). Even though God had promised to make of Abraham a great nation of people, and even though both Abraham and Sarah were way too old to be having children, “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise” (Rom.4:20; Hebrews 11:11&12). “He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything He promised” (Rom.4:21; Ephesians 3:20&21). Are we? Do we truly trust God in our lives, no matter what may happen (Proverbs 3:5&6)? Someone has said, “Faith is not believing God can do something. Faith is knowing God will.” Righteous people walk by faith in God and not by sight in themselves (II Cor.5:7). May our faith walk be an inspiration and an encouragement to believers and non-believers alike.