Riches

DEVOTION
ROMANS
RICHES

Rom 11:11-12
11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!
NIV
I am surely glad that Israel stumbled. I know it is an awful thing to say, however I see in this verse, it is because of this I have been called into the family of God. It also speaks to me about the ever present desire of my Lord to bring His salvation to the chosen people of Israel. Yet excluding them for a moment and focusing on my own relationship with my lord, I am completely and totally thankful for the opportunity I have been given to experience eternal life. I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without a relationship with Jesus Christ my Savior. Death, oh where is your sting? Yet, even in listening to others who, as far as I know, do not believe in salvation through Jesus Christ, I hear them speak of going to Heaven. Of this I am not convinced, however, I am convinced of the love of God for all of His creation and His desire to have all men come to Him. I am convinced He is the only way to achieve eternal life. The path is narrow and it is straight and some people simply cannot accept this. I am sad because of the blindness which exists in people. I do not understand, at time, why their hearts are hardened to the truth. Am I the one in the wrong, have I misunderstood the scriptures or even the validity and authenticity of the scriptures? No, not at all, I have had so many, way too many, for one person, experiences which prove without a shadow of a doubt, that God exists and His truth is recorded within the texts called the Bible. This is richness beyond all riches. This is true wealth, true riches, a treasure so grand; it has to be shared with others.