“2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel.” Romans 9:2-4
Paul, in the middle of his letter to the church and believers in Rome, pulls back the layers of his heart and soul to reveal the level of care and concern he feels in his calling to spread the Gospel of Jesus.
This passage struck me.
Paul’s pain regarding the Jews and their response to Jesus as Messiah is tangible in the words that he writes. He feels it as such a deep level that he is willing to make the argument, me for them God.
Paul so genuinely wants the Jews to get it, to see Jesus as the Messiah, who he truly is, that he wishes to be cursed if that would cause them to receive the good news of Jesus Christ.
I was struck by this passage because there is wrestling within me as to why I cannot write this same sentence that Paul did.
Why do I not have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart when it comes to the people I know who do not know Jesus? Where is my great passion and deep soul level concern for those in my world who have not heard the good news?
What would it look like in my life if I did live with deep sorrow and unceasing anguish about the lost within my city? My neighborhood? My family?
I was reminded so clearly when reading through this passage and wrestling with these questions that it was Paul’s great love for Jesus and the powerful transformation of grace at work in Paul that birthed within him the deep and great desire for others to know Christ the way that he did.
The more we spend time with Jesus, in His Word, and worshipping him, the more a great love grows within us for him, which drives us to engage the world around us in conversation that all would know him.
Do it in us, Lord, give us a deep love for you and a great burden for others to know you.