Tues.’s Devo - God’s Selection

Read Romans 9:1-16 Paul bemoans the fact that his people the Jews have for the most part rejected Jesus. God gave them the law and the promises and they were the reason Christ came, yet they are not all called to be his children just like all of Abraham’s children were not given the same promise. Isaac was the son who God chose to use to be called, not Ishmael. God gave Ishmael a different promise. He gives us another example: Isaac and Rebecca. They had the twins Esau and Jacob. Before the twins were even born, God chose to love Jacob and hate Esau. This is hard for us to swallow if we only see God as a fair loving God. He is a loving God with a purpose. He creates people for his purpose - good or bad. Prov. 16:4 says “The Lord has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” If you didn’t believe in predestination you would have to after this chapter. In verse 14 Paul asks the question we might have: Is God unrighteous that he would hate Esau? God forbid!!! (Paul does love that phrase!) Paul refers to what God told Moses when he told Moses that he was going to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh didn’t have a choice in the matter. God’s will supersedes our will. This might make us upset to know that we aren’t in as much control as we thought but it should comfort us to know that God is not going to let us mess things up. He really is in control. Thank you for choosing to have mercy on us. We are humbly grateful!