vow13. Romans 5:6-8

I deserve a big, fat 0 for being consistent with my verses of the week.  But that ends today!   Our church is putting out a 60 day, follow-up devotion series for the student ministry.  I just completed Day 1 and am anxious to get to the rest of them-they are going to be good!   I'm going to use some of the verses that are used during the devotions for my weekly scriptures.

Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I can't say that I have ever unpacked this set of verses; I am upset that I have never done so!  But there is no time like the present!

So...someone had to come and rescue our pitiful selves.  Christ came at EXACTLY the right time to do so.  God not only knows how history will play out, He writes it!  He knew the Who, the What, the When, the Why even before He sent his Son to Earth as a baby.  Talk about an author!

In verse 8 we read the words, 'While we were still sinners.'  Wow!  How crazy is that?!  Even before you or I knew Him, He loved us!  Can you even imagine that?  Loving someone before they even knew who you were?  Even when they were hurting you?  Turning their backs against you?  The footnotes in my Bible [Life Application Study Bible] has this to say about verse 8: 'If God loved you when you were a rebel, he can surely strengthen you, now that you love him in return'.

I am sure some of you have heard the story [or some version of] that I have 'Ctrl + C' & 'Ctrl + V' below but it won't hurt you to read it again; it gets me every time.  I do not know the author of this scenario but I wish I did!  It paints a picture of God's love on a level that we can understand:

An eight-year-old boy had a younger sister named Liz who was dying of leukemia, and he was told that without a blood transfusion she would die. His parents explained to him that his blood was a match with hers and he could be her blood donor. Then they asked if he would give his sister a pint of blood, that it could be her only chance of living. He said he would have to think about it overnight. The next day he went to his parents and said he was willing to donate the blood. A nurse withdrew a pint of blood from the boy, which was then put in the girl’s IV. The boy lay on his gurney in silence while the blood dripped into his sister, until the doctor came over to see how he was doing. Then the boy opened his eyes and asked, “How soon until I start to die?”

[If you or anyone you know would benefit from the 60 day, daily devotions please click here.  Each one is about 11-15 minutes long and includes praise & worship music, memory verse, & context verses.  PLUS...it is FREE!!!]