Romans 15:4-6

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” vs. 4

As Paul came to the end of his sometimes cumbersome and long letter to the Romans he wanted to leave his reader with hope. They’d had a rough time absorbing this radical message of inclusion. His Jewish readers had never dreamed that one day they would have table fellowship with Gentiles. It was likely beyond their imagination. Yet so Paul had proclaimed, and so they had come to believe, and now he wants them to know that he hadn’t just been making this stuff up. He tells them that the Hebrew scriptures had been written for this purpose. Everything that he had told them had come from their holy writings, and because that was the gospel’s source,  they all might have hope. That gospel of grace now belongs to us, and it is such a blessing to see the threads of that message running through all the scriptures. Oh, sometimes it’s hard to see how all things fit together, and sometimes we wish the writers could have been more clear and direct. But as we use that precious library of books for instruction and for insight we see that this is what Paul said it was, a grace-filled message of inclusion and hope. As we study and read it our understanding grows and we are bound to give thanks for our long-lived family of faith.

Thought for the Day: What do I do when scripture baffles me?