A Heart Like His
At the same time, you need to know that I carry with me at all times a huge sorrow. It's an enormous pain deep within me, and I'm never free of it. I'm not exaggerating - Christ and the Holy Spirit are my witnesses. It's the Israelites . . . If there were any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be blessed by him, I'd do it in a minute. They're my family. I grew up with them. They had everything going for them - family, glory, covenants, revelation, worship, promises, to say nothing of being the race that produced the Messiah, the Christ, who is God over everything, always. Oh, yes! Romans 9:1-5 (The Message)
Can you hear the anguish in Paul's voice as he laments the sin of his countrymen. His sorrow for his countrymen is so great that he would choose to suffer God’s punishment in hell if it were possible. In Luke 19:41-44 we find that Jesus, as He was entering Jerusalem in the days before the crucifixion had a similar anguish for his countrymen. The difference is that Jesus, unlike Paul, could be and was the substitute to bear God’s wrath.
I remember a few, maybe 7 or 8, years ago an 11 or 12 year old girl asking me, “Why, if Christians know where they are going when they die, don’t they go to dangerous places to tell people about Jesus.” She also told me she wanted to die a martyr’s death and would rather die herself than for someone who does not know Christ to die. She would die in their place, if possible. This same girl, now a college freshman, was distraught over the mob beating of a Muslim friend in another country. Why so upset? Because he is a man without Christ, and if he had died would be lost forever in the hell that was prepared by God for the devil and his demons.
What about you? Do you agonize over the lostness of family and friends? Would you be willing to die in their place? Before today is over think of one person you know that needs Christ. Begin to pray for them, and eventually, talk to them about how God loves them and sent Jesus to be their substitute for the punishment of their sin.
When the city came into view, he wept over it. "If you had only recognized this day, and everything that was good for you! But now it's too late. In the days ahead your enemies are going to bring up their heavy artillery and surround you, pressing in from every side. They'll smash you and your babies on the pavement. Not one stone will be left intact. All this because you didn't recognize and welcome God's personal visit."
Luke 19:41-44 (The Message)
Judy K. Williams
