“At the beginning of his letter to the church in Rome,” Stan began, “the apostle Paul wrote a compliment to the church that presents a real question to me.”
“What’s that all about?” I asked.
“Paul wrote to the church that he was really thankful to God for them because their faith was being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
“Proclaimed throughout the whole world?” I replied. “That’s great!”
“It was great for them,” Stan replied, “but it raises in me the question of how am I doing with that?”
“Doing with what?”
“Is my faith being proclaimed to the whole world, or even to whatever part of the world I happen to inhabit? Is my faith being proclaimed to my ‘whole world’?”
“I guess each one of us has our own ‘whole world’ in which our faith is to be proclaimed.”
“It goes beyond a guess,” Stan replied. “I think it’s more like a command, as in when Jesus said to go and make disciples of ‘all nations’.”
“Jesus said to go; I think that means that I’m supposed to go. It’s kind of like He will ask me which part of ‘Go’ didn’t I understand.”
“And,” Stan concluded, “along with what Paul wrote to the church in Rome, as well as what he wrote to me, I think that my faith is to be proclaimed to whatever world I happen to be in at any particular time.”
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Bible verses to consider:
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. Romans 1:8.
Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Romans 10:13-15.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your provision of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thank you for those people who proclaimed their faith to me so that I, too, would come to believe through faith. Too often I do not proclaim my faith to others because I am reluctant to do so. Please open me to want to proclaim my faith to whoever you bring before me, seeing each such person as being in “my world” in which I am to proclaim my faith. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Do you have faith that is to be proclaimed? If not, why? If you do have such faith, how are you doing with it being proclaimed in your world? What does your world look like? Is it suitable for or receptive to the proclamation of your faith? Why or why not? What would it take for your faith to be proclaimed to the “whole world,” whatever that “world” may be?
Waiting for the Train 