Daily Devotion – May 25, 2021 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Romans 8:12-17
8:12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh–
8:13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
8:15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”
8:16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
8:17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ–if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Brothers and sisters are joint heirs. When my father died, he still held half the mineral rights on his father’s small farm in southern Illinois. My mother, at Dad’s death, received everything Dad owned. But recently, as I got my mother’s papers in order, I contacted the company that handles those mineral rights. The attorney told me that in fact, my mother cannot own them, and that, in fact, all rights pass directly to the descendants of the owner, not to anyone else. They pass along because of blood. He had a daughter from a marriage before he met my mother. She is my half-sister. But because of blood, she is a full heir to his mineral rights, as are my younger sister and I.
We are heirs to his property because we come from his blood and spirit.
Paul is making a similar argument to the Christians in Rome. If you are led by the Spirit of God, you are children of God. And you are equal heirs to God’s kingdom and blessings, no matter what. The inheritance follows the blood. And if we have this blood, it will bear witness that we are his children. The Spirit bears witness to those who belong to God.
Do you believe that you are a beloved child of God? Has the Holy Spirit brought you into God’s family by bringing you to faith over the years, called and enlightened you, as Luther says? Ok, then you are an heir to God’s kingdom.
And so is anyone else the Spirit has called to faith. So Luther is your co-heir. Also Charlemagne. And Joan of Arc. And Bonhoffer. And Hauge. And Tutu. And Mother Theresa. And me. And a lot of other people we do not even want to think about. Our brothers and sisters. Our co-heirs. Even if we believe quite differently from the way they do. They will all be at that heavenly feast with us. All of them.
God is very very big. We are pretty small. Let that sink in awhile and then decide what the Spirit of God might be calling you to do about it.
Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you sending your spirit to call us to belief and faith in you. Help us to think bigger, not smaller, when we consider your kingdom and your calling for us. Amen.
