Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Listen to the Word
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35,37)

Embedded in the promise of this week's Scripture is the challenge to recognize that nothing compares to being loved and held by Christ. Your relationship with him is to be central. If you have any other central priority, this good news doesn't seem like such good news. If convenience, safety, health, reputation, or your i-phone are more important to you than Christ, then our Scripture regrets to inform you that those things can be taken from you. The passage basically says, "You may face real hardship; you may be harassed by others; you may go hungry; your i-phone screen might crack; you might be attacked by all kinds of forces from this world and beyond. But, hey - Christ will not let go of you."

The good news of our Scripture is that Christ holds us even when things don't go our way. But that is only good news if we realize that it is more important to be held by Christ than to have things go our way.

Live the Word
Do some self-reflection. Based on what has consumed your time, energy, and thoughts over the last few days, what would you say is your biggest priority? Whatever that is, ask Christ to help you make him more important than it is.