Unashamed Reading Plan – W2D3
Check out all the previous Unashamed readings here.
Unashamed Reading Plan | Week 2 | Day 3
Prayer
Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Pray that God would open your eyes to wonderful things from His word today.
Bible Reading: Romans 1:26-32
Read these verses three times slowly.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Reflection & Questions
In our readings from Romans this week we are seeing what is wrong with the world. We read yesterday that because of His wrath against the wickedness of the world, He “gave them over to their desires.” This is a different way of seeing God’s judgment than what you might think of when you hear of judgment. Some might think of judgment as lightning bolts or punishment. But the large majority of the time, God’s judgment is a giving over to desires. He has tried to hold back evil, and lead people in the truth, but at a point He realizes that the only way for them to learn is to “give them over” to what they desire.
As we read these verses, we are faced with the brutal reality of all the ways our world is messed up. Perhaps the nail in the coffin being the last verse: “they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” Unfortunately, as true as this was when Paul penned it 2,000 years ago, it’s just as true now. This is a very accurate picture of our world – a crystal clear diagnosis of our world.
We need an answer to this brokenness, to stop the rot and turn our lives around, and we need some way to placate God’s wrath. We will get to that. For now, it is good to grieve for our broken world and for our own brokenness. To confess to God and to plead with Him on behalf of our world.
- Is this view of God’s wrath different than what you thought of before? What do you learn in reading these verses?
- Paul really wants us to know what is wrong with the world. Why do you think that is important to know?
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
Bible Reading: Romans 1:28-32
Read these verses three times slowly.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Reflection & Questions
In our readings from Romans this week we are seeing what is wrong with the world. We read yesterday that because of God’s wrath against the wickedness of the world, He “gave them over to their desires.” So He pretty much just let them do whatever they want to do, even if what they wanted to do was evil.
This sounds like a weird way to show his wrath. When we think of God judging us for making bad choices, we think of lightning bolts or some big punishment. But most of the time, His judgment is giving us over to our desires. He has tried to hold back evil and lead the people in what is good and true but He also knows that the only way for them to learn at this point is to let them make those bad choices.
It’s funny because even though this was written many, many years ago to describe the way the world was 2,000 years ago, it’s true again today! It is sad to see that people are just doing whatever they want and also encouraging others to do what makes them happy, even if it isn’t good for them.
We need to find a way to stop this in our world and in ourselves and to get back to doing what God says is good for us. We will get to that soon in our readings. But for now we can pray for our world and our hearts that all will confess their sins and turn back to God for help.
- Can you think of a situation or a reason why it might not be good to just do whatever we feel like doing?
Pray
Think about things that you do just because you feel like doing it. Ask God to help you choose to do good as He would have you do rather than just doing what makes you happy.
Check out more Bible Reading Plans here.
Questions?
Ed Applegate
