Happy Aloha Friday and happy opening day of the great State Fair of Texas! I’m so excited, God blessed us both with a day off together (which hardly ever happens) and on opening day! We are going to meet our dads there and enjoy a great day of the fair all together. We’re so fortunate to be able to do this! The fair opens the last Friday in September every year and since our anniversary is September 30, it has become a tradition for us to celebrate by going to opening day. Sunday is our anniversary, hard to believe it’s been 23 years!
Since we’re leaving out of here pretty quick, I’ll launch right into Romans chapter 10. Chapter 10 is one of my favs, it’s got a few verses that just really quicken my pulse, you know, really get my blood flowin’. Paul’s theme is similar to yesterday as he is baring his heart and lamenting over the fact that even being the chosen people, most of the Jews have chosen to reject the gospel of Jesus. They sat in synagogues every week but were missing the mark by a mile. They were so deep into the Mosaic law that they refused to accept who Jesus really was. They had religion but were lost, they had the law but not righteousness. You know that same thing goes on today. I read a study the other day that estimates that 75% of church members are not saved. 75%! Wow. If this is true (and I think it's pretty accurate) that means most people are just members of a religious club, just like the Pharisees. You see, God’s Word is still so relevant today. Since all people have a sin nature and people never change, God’s Word is always relevant to our current day. People never change.
This segways us right into Romans 10:3, “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” This is clearly talking about how stubborn we are towards God. I’d like to key in on one word in that verse…ignorant. Today we think that word is a pure insult but the definition of ignorant is “lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about something in particular.” You see I am completely ignorant about rocket science. I know absolutely nothing about building and successfully launching a rocket. I’m ignorant of it. But what if I spent the next 10 years studying it? I of course would no longer be ignorant of it. You see, many times ignorance is not an insult at all but it is a choice. We choose in what we decide to educate ourselves in. That’s what Paul is saying here, they made a choice and it was to neglect God and His Word. Yet again, this perfectly parallels our world today.
Listen to this quote from Dr. Griffith Thomas, “Is it not marvelous that people can read the Bible and all the time fail to see its essential teaching and its personal application to themselves? There is scarcely anything more surprising and saddening than the presence of intellectual knowledge of God’s Word with an utter failure to appreciate its spiritual meaning and force.” I often get asked about how best to read and understand the bible. My answer is the same as if someone asked me how you would best understand a book on rocket science, Russian history or calculus. You have to allot time, spend time, study, read and more than likely get help. It is no different with God’s Word. If you want to really get the most out of it you’ll have to first simply apply yourself. It’s like the old saying, “you get out what you put in.” Many people expect to pick up God’s Word once a month, read for 20 minutes and perfectly understand everything in it. Back in college when I would struggle with algebra and calculus I would have to get a tutor to help me understand. If I’ve heard it once I’ve probably heard it a thousand times, “I’ve tried reading the Bible but I just don’t understand it.” But you know what? I can’t think of one single time that I’ve EVER heard of anybody getting a tutor to help them!
In Romans 10:9-10 we have another huge verse. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Man, Paul says it all and says it beautifully here. The gospel is not complicated, it's not confusing, Paul lays it out here in just 27 words. It may not be confusing, but it will take an absolute surrendering of your heart which will require everything from you. Now, notice here that Paul specifically mentions two things in both verses, heart and mouth. HEART AND MOUTH. Paul is aware that man needs to bring into agreement his confession and his life. You see, the mouth and the heart should be in harmony when it comes to accepting Christ. You and I have both met many people that are on either side of this fence. Some believe in something so passionately they can talk 90 to nothing about it and you can FEEL their heart in it. Yet on the other side we’ve also witnessed someone trying to sell us something and you can feel it from a mile away, a disconnect. It’s just lip service, you can tell their heart is not in it. Folks, you can’t do that with Jesus. He can tell a mile away. Your heart and your voice must be in perfect harmony when you accept Christ. Luke 6:45 nails this down pat. “ The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Whatever is inside of you WILL come bubbling to the surface, that’s a guarantee.
The last verse we’ll look at today is also one of my favorites and has had a great implication in my life. Romans 10:14-15 “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
This a simple message that our world needs so direly today. We’ve been told what it means to call upon the name of Christ. We’ve been told the gospel and how to accept Jesus as our savior. We hear it at church every Sunday, on the radio and on TV. But what about the people that don’t hear it? What about the people of this world that have never had the chance to hear about the saving grace of Jesus? What about the people that have heard it and just don’t fully understand it? My friends that is a fact that just should not be. Jesus came to die and be raised from the dead to pay for the sins of every man and woman that has ever lived and they all deserve to hear of His grace and mercy. So how does this get done?
Well, God calls us and out of obedience we go. Its that simple. Or is it? A lot of people read this verse and think one of two things. First they'll say, “well Dan, that verse is for other people, for preachers, I’m not a preacher.” Folks, you just heard Paul present the gospel of Jesus Christ in 27 words, 3 paragraphs earlier, that’s all you need to know to preach the gospel. This verse applies to every Christ follower on the planet that can tell people those 27 words. We are all preachers of the gospel and are commanded to go and share the good news.
Second, I hear people say, “well Dan, this verse specifically says ‘sent’ so this has to do with missionaries that God sends to Africa or China.” Where are you living today? Are you living in the room you grew up in in your parents house? Probably not. You have grown up, moved out and have more than likely moved away either a small or maybe even a great distance. How did you end up there? Do you think that you picked the spot? Not likely. The God of the universe has put you where He wants you for a reason. The reason? To be beautiful feet.
I absolutely adore those two words. Beautiful feet. Feet aren’t necessarily the most beautiful part of our bodies but my friends, when they are carrying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ they are the most beautiful thing in the universe. You see this is what our feet were created to do, carry the gospel of Jesus to the world. Your feet may take you to China, Africa, Denver, Los Angeles or even Muleshoe, Texas but that’s where they took you, so bring the good news.
My good friends, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope you thoroughly grasp that message. I hope it sinks deeply into your heart and flows from your mouth today and every day. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Today my beautiful feet will be bringing the gospel to the State Fair of Texas, I pray that God will put someone in my path that He wants to hear it.
Be the beautiful feet that brings hope, joy and peace to a lost world.
God bless those feet.
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