ROMANS 5:19

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

TO PONDER

I have been struck lately by the verse in John 20:21 in which Jesus says, "as the Father has sent me, now I am sending you." It does funny things to you when you then read a text like this one from Romans.

If in the obedience of Jesus, who was sent to do the will of the Father, many will be made righteous, what happens when we, who are sent just as Jesus was, are obedient to God? Wouldn't it stand to reason that our obedience to God might also lead many to righteousness?

Now clearly we are talking about a different scale here - Jesus obedience which led him to the cross - opened up the way for us to be made righteous in God's sight. And I am not suggesting that our obedience does anything quite like what Jesus' obedience did. However, If God's mission in sending Jesus was to seek and save the lost, and now we are sent by Jesus on that same mission, wouldn't it stand to reason that our obedience might be one of the tools He uses to draw others to himself?

It's something worth thinking about!

PRAYER: Jesus, thank you that your righteousness can now also be mine because of your obedience to the Father and through your death and resurrection. Please help me to live my life in obedience to the Father's will so that I also may help others to see an encounter your love and mercy for themselves. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle