One of the most popular and repeated phrases of a young child when they become around 5 years old is….. “WHY?” When you tell a child to stop playing on the high bars of the playground, their response is… “Why?” When you tell them to stop being so loud when you are a restaurant, their response is… “Why?” When you tell them to eat all their vegetables instead of the ice cream, their response is… “Why?” Even as a teenager we often ask our parents if we can go somewhere or do something and if they say ‘no’ then we immediately as…. “Why can’t I do that!!!?? You get the picture.
A grown-up mature person knows exactly why we don’t want the child to climb to high, and why we want them to be a little quieter in a public place, or why we want them to eat some vegetables instead of just replacing it with ice cream. But it is the lack of maturity for the small child that leads to their lack of understanding of why it is so important to follow some guidelines of behavior.
This is a simple illustration, but it gives us some clue to how we deal with our conduct and the ethics of our behavior as Christ followers. This Sunday we are walking through Romans 15:1-13. With the previous illustration in your mind, spend some time reading over and meditating on this passage. There is a great reason why the instructions tell the “strong in the Lord” to “bear the weaknesses of those who are not” (15:1). And, “each one must please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” There is a serious Gospel connection to all this ethical behavior, and Sunday we are going to walk through this together. See if you can discover this as well.
We are coming near the end of our academic year in our study through Romans. Over the next three Sunday’s we are going to be tying this all together. There is a strong reason why we called this series “The Gospel Truth.” Everything will brought together in the end because of the Gospel.
See you Sunday
