#DailyDevotion Does You Pastor Have Beautiful Feet?

January 21st

Read Rom 10:1–21

Rom 10:8-15  But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);  (9)  because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  (10)  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  (11)  For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”  (12)  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.  (13)  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  (14)  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  (15)  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

 

Verse nine is not causative.  It is not prescriptive.  It is descriptive.  It is the result actually of verse 8.  What does this mean?  It means God brings us the word of the Gospel.  He puts it in our midst.  He puts it in our mouth and in our heart.  He does this through the proclamation of the Gospel.

 

So as a result of the proclamation of the gospel we confess it and we believe it in our hearts.  We are saved because this gospel has been put there that does this believing and confessing.  This faith that believes and confesses is what justifies us.  It is a result of being saved.

 

As our faith is in Christ we are promised we shall not be put to shame.  Indeed before the throne of God we shall be exalted.  Those in the world try to shame us for putting our faith in Christ but we know their end and it will be to their shame.  And it is the same for everyone.  It doesn’t matter what one’s background is Jesus is to be the Lord for all people everywhere.

 

Jesus bestows on us his blessings to all who call upon his name.  He gives us his Holy Spirit, his life and his light.  We are bestowed with his wisdom and mind which sees how the scriptures point to him.  But we can only call upon him if we know about him and that we can call upon him.  In order to believe in him he must be proclaimed.  We need someone to preach to us Jesus Christ as our savior.  Those who preach must be sent by God.  These would normally be for us today by our pastors.

 

They are sent by God and called through the congregations.  They are charged by God to proclaim the free forgiveness of sins on account of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  To proclaim God is reconciled to all people everyone through the atoning blood shed by Jesus in his passion is their calling.  They deliver the promise of everlasting life based on the resurrection of the crucified Christ.  So next time you see your pastor ask him to take his shoes off.  He’ll probably wonder about it for a moment, but tell him you heard he had beautiful feet.

 

Heavenly Father we thank you for sending men into the world who proclaimed the forgiveness of sins.  Put in our mouths the message of salvation also.  Amen.