For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
We get pleasure when we gain something by deceit or wrongdoing, but that pleasure is short-lived. After that we must deal with the consequences. Even if no one else ever finds out, we know and we can no longer think of ourselves as a person of integrity (the writer describes that feeling as being like having a mouth full of gravel).
When our troubles are great we can call on God to come to our rescue (we can do that even when our troubles are small). If we call on God we need to trust that He will answer. If we trust that He will answer when we call on Him for aid, we will live lives of honesty and integrity. There is no reason for lies and deceit if we truly trust God.
Paul describes the reason he is traveling to Jerusalem. He is taking the money which the Churches in Macedonia and Achaia had collected to the believers in Jerusalem. The emphasis Paul places on this donation tells us that those of us who are doing well economically should contribute to the support of those believers who are struggling, even when those believers are distant from us. The other side of this lesson is that if we should accept such assistance when other believers give it to us. If you genuinely do not need to aid you are being given, pass it on to others in need.
There is a second lesson for us here. Paul requests that the believers in Rome aid him by praying for him and for the mission he is on. We must remember that even when we are far from those who are struggling and we do not have the ability to send them economic assistance we can help them by praying for them. I do not understand how prayer works, but I know that it does. Let us pray for those far from us who we wish we could aid in what we view as more substantive ways. Prayer may not have substance, but it is still a powerful force for good.
I love reading the story of the Assyrian invasion while Hezekiah was king. The Assyrians were confident that nothing could stand in their way. The people of Jerusalem had no hope to stand against them. Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem knew that from the perspective of the world the Assyrians were right. They knew that they could not stand against the Assyrian army in battle. However, the Jews and the Assyrians disagreed on one point. The Assyrians were sure that God would not, and could not, protect Jerusalem from them. Hezekiah and his people knew that God could stop the Assyrian army if He so chose. Their only question was “Would He?” They turned to God in humility and prayer and God did indeed force the Assyrian army to turn aside from Jerusalem.