March 21

Romans 1:1-15

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of
God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the
flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of
holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we
have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all
the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to
belong to Jesus Christ,
To all God‟s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is
proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by
announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember
you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last
succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with
you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— or rather so that we may be mutually
encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know,
brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have
been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among
the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the
wise and to the foolish hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also
who are in Rome.

DG Comment: Today I meditate on the sentence, “For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” As we begin spring and come to a time when there are roughly 12 hours of light and dark, I think about the idea of balance. How we in the body of Christ balance each other and support each other. How we share spiritual gifts to strengthen each other. How we encourage each other’s faith. May it be so today and all this week.

"I've seen prayers answered. But often, in my experience, if you get what you pray for, you've really shortchanged yourself."
--Anne Lamott