5 minutes: Romans 8:28

Rom. 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose

So, a couple of thoughts here:
- "God works.." - present tense, not God worked, fixed things, will fix, or hopes... but present, active, right now.
How does God work? - well, the immediate verses prior say:

Rom. 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

So we've been given the spirit to intercede - to translate and transmit our thoughts to God - on our behalf: even in accordance with God's will. So when my language is lacking, or if I lack the insight to properly understand how I feel, there is the Spirit, talking with God on my behalf the true nature of my heart.

Let's go back to verse 28 - what's "for the good of those who love him"?
Well, again, the surrounding verses help (I've pulled a single verse from the middle of a disparate group of statements that surround a central theme Paul is building):

Rom. 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Leave out the concept of pre-destination here for a tick; so many people get hung up on the attitude of whether predestination is cool or not: either way, if you're already a Christian it's fairly clear what God's hope for you is, and if you're not a Christian then the great commission kind of overrides whether or not you were 'chosen' (although, just to dip into it: where are the numbers? Perhaps God chose everyone.)

Anyway, God's desire for us is to become more and more like Jesus - the likeness of his son.

So, I have a purpose, an end goal that God's given me. He's interested in me getting there, and He's provided some tools to help me make my own way there.

I gave this as a thought prior to the offering last Sunday, and there's no reason to leave the giving part out here: Our God is a giving God. He provided the Holy Spirit to us - a very morsel of himself in us, being disappointed and displaced by sin in our lives; he daily comes in contact, most intimately, with the grit and stench of our sin; but He gave us the spirit willingly. Jesus told his disciples when he was preparing to leave that he was sending the counsellor - the spirit who guides us into knowing God's will for us.

God wants us to grow to know his will better, I believe, either SO we can make a decision for it; or BECAUSE we're already free to make our own decisions: either way, this is not the way it necessarily needed to be for God. Our free choice complicates things enormously for God, BUT it makes the term true worship probably a little more meaningful.

That we are to become like Christ involves giving as well; Jesus' ulitmate aim was to give up his life for us; but along the way he also gave his time, his heart, his wisdom and insight...

Giving talks are not about eliciting extra dollars in the offering that's about to happen. Well, I hope they never are. In my mind, and I believe in the mind of all at RS, it's a much longer term thing: a raising of awareness, and a provocation.

In that instance, I'm excited by the final thought: Christianity is all about giving. Yes, we're called to tithe our income (that's a whole separate discussion), but we're also called to give our love, our attention, our time, our heart, our support, our posessions...

Lord, let there be nothing I treasure too highly, or in the wrong way, to be willing to give away for your cause.

After all, you gave before I even knew.