Since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)
We’ve been doing an inductive study of Romans 13. We began by observing what Paul said in this chapter. Then we tried to understand what he meant, that is, interpreting what we had observed. Now we’ve been doing the third step in the inductive study approach. We need to answer the question, “So what?” That is, we need to determine what difference what we have learned should make in our lives.
The main point Paul made in the first half of this chapter should help us understand that what God requires of us as citizens in the world is to be honest and law abiding, including paying our taxes. Another point he made is that we should be characterized as loving our neighbors as ourselves. This would mean we do no harm to our neighbor, either physically, emotionally, relationally or financially. What is happening in the world around us is diametrically opposed to this. This means we will have an uphill battle.
Knowing the time is short before we meet our God, we should make every moment count for Him and His kingdom. To do this we need Christ’s presence. Augustin, who came to Jesus Christ as a result of hearing a neighbor child quote Romans 13:14 once wrote, “You have made us for Yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in You.”
If you haven’t already experienced Christ filling that void you can experience what Augustin did by asking Jesus Christ to come into your life and taking over as your personal Savior and Lord.
His presence will become foundational for living as you ought as a citizen of this world.
