God Shows No Partiality

Jesus and the Just Reign of God
Jesus Ushers in the Reign of God
Jesus Teaches about Relationships

Romans 2:1-11

The Message

God Is Kind, but Not Soft

2 ^1-2 Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done.

^3-4 You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.
^5-8 You’re not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it’s going to blaze hot and high, God’s fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what’s coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God’s side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire!
^9-11 If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you’re from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won’t give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.

For Reflection

To what extent have we trivialized ourselves into silliness and confusion?  It is hard to call war silly.  It is difficult to see our collective action as silly when so much seems to ride on our decisions.  And yet when we are so arrogant that  we believe that only we can solve our problems confusion ensues. 

We all have splinters.  One would think we would learn that our ways are not the only ways or even effective ways.  When we ignore the guiding hand of God, we are truly master craftsmen of our own demise. 

Pray

Pray that you will place your life in God's hands.  Pray for the trust and courage to risk a God-centered life.