Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen. (Rom. 1:20)
Expanded Passage: Romans 1:18-20
Nearly every time I go to the grocery store, I walk out feeling woefully inefficient. Odds are, I’ve been through many aisles three to four times because on my first trip(s) I have walked right by something I intended to put in my cart. The problem isn’t that the item isn’t there; the problem is that I walked right by without knowing.
In Romans 1, Paul confronts a similar problem in the neighbors of the church in Rome: there are people around the city of Rome who have become obstacles to the truth because they have missed God’s subtle invitation to pay attention.
According to Paul, all of creation—the beauty of the sunset, the laugh of a child, the wind rippling over the water—bears witness to the glory of God, so that people who see everything that God made can catch a whiff of the divine that makes them crave more of their creator.
Hopefully nobody is writing a letter calling you (or me) “wicked” or “godless” as Paul does in Romans 1. And yet, we are often guilty of walking by God’s presence in our lives that is “clearly seen”—if only we have the eyes to see it.
At the end of today, name three ways you saw God’s presence.
Ethan Linder is the discipleship pastor at College Wesleyan Church (IN) and contributing editor for Education and Clergy Development of The Wesleyan Church.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
