Wednesday July 28, 2021

“Lord, help me to pause, help me to focus, help me to receive your word in a way that makes an impact on my day. Amen”

Romans 10:1-13

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Our faith is a full body experience. Paul reminds us how important our hearts are to our witness and our salvation. I love how he starts chapter 10 out by saying “my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved”. His heart’s desire. Paul leads us to Christ through his heart.

Verse 9 says “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”. Whole body, mouth AND heart. I think sometimes we lead with an “either or” witness. We say Jesus is Lord, but then our hearts don’t feel it or our actions don’t model what the resurrection really looks like in our everyday lives. Or we are doers. We do all the good things but our mouths are silent. We don’t declare out loud, “Jesus is Lord”.

Our salvation requires both our hearts and our mouths. It’s time for us today to do a quick heart and mouth check.

What is your heart’s desire?

Who needs to hear “Jesus is Lord” in your life?

Lord, these are your words. This is our story. Help me live in a way that honors you today and everyday. Amen.