Romans 14:1-12
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master [Lord] that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess [shall give praise] to God.”
12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
We could think of Solomon given a beautiful, shiny new kingdom and asking God for wisdom. And using that wisdom to acquire 700 wives. Solomon didn't rest in the Lord's visitation and gifting to him. Okay. Solomon wrote and said in Ecclesiastes 7 that he hadn't found a good, worthwhile woman. During his 700 marriages. No one can stand firm to say they can write the Bible for our guidelines. Yet, you could safely say Solomon fell into the trap written by the Eagles song: "you can spend your life making money, you can spend your love making time." Solomon was making too much time with too many women. Solomon never spent time "being" the right person. He seems stuck in the physical perfections. A whole lot of love is about loving what isn't so perfect in the people you love. When we read Song of Solomon we are reading not just about young love, but the ideals we see in the people we love.
So we can flush Solomon's wisdom. But God says No, we should read Solomon's wisdom.
Human Judgement? Flawed. One Prophet of God had many religious leaders come to examine Him. These men were given their power by God - it was God's Temple.... The Pharisees and Sadducees, all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law were horrified to find this Man defying the tradition, the religious law associating with known sinners and tax collectors. Jesus didn't even like hand washing for purity. And He told them He was one with the Father. Forgave sins and called Himself God's Son.
Today? We are a pretty fragmented Body of Christ. God says in this passage, He uses what we deem to be faith to spread the Good News.
Perhaps another thing to add to the passage - black and white thinking is frowned upon in the views of mental health. Yet as believing Christians, we are told to live holy lives. Labeling some things as evil is necessary and part of life. But truly living and speaking truth and mercy with love is more rare and still gleams brightly the light of Jesus Christ.
My cousin, Maxine, had this on her bathroom door. As I walked, I observed a man - a very lazy man. He sat in a chair with a rake, raking his leaves. I felt contempt for this lazy, lazy man slowly raking his leaves. I vigorously walked and as I returned from the other direction, I learned his crutches were propped against the chair where he sat, carefully dragging his rake, to remove his leaves, making his yard both trim and neat.
What would Jesus say about Paul and the Holy Spirit for Romans 14 - live and live in faith - we cannot displease God when we earnestly seek to please Him.
John 4:21-26
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Reading the Scriptures helps us know God's love. Every verse of the Bible is written for you. Ultimately, it is you and the Lord.
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Other Scripture for Today Blogspot readings on Romans 14:
August 2, 2010
November 5, 2009
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