Motivation

            This morning I got up to weigh myself before getting on with my exercise. Having a goal of dropping some weight is not uncommon at this time of year and I’m certainly in that crowd. Much to my pleasant surprise, I saw that even after watching the Super Bowl, with the attendant snacks and beverages, I’d lost weight over the weekend. All right!

            That being the case I set a personal best in my workout. I’d have to credit that to motivation. I’m seeing success in what Jami and I are hoping is a change in lifestyle (vis-à-vis eating), and it encourages me in the other things that I’m doing.

            A great deal of St. Paul’s purpose in writing to the Romans was to get them motivated. He was going to need their help and support as he planned to reach further east in his missionary travels. And how was he going to motivate them? He was simply going to share God’s Word with them.

            Romans is not necessarily a compendium of Christian Doctrine, but I don’t know of any other book that would come closer to it. St. Paul convicts us of our need for a Savior: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. He spells out the dire situation in which sin leaves us: “the wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23. And he then assures us of God’s gracious plan to redeem us “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1.

            Simply being in God’s Word will help you live each day as His dearly loved child. Get into it. And then, get on with it!