What's Worth Conquering?

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Scripture:

Romans 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Observation:

Paul had just listed a number of items through which Christ-followers might pass. They included tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and sword. None of these sound pleasant in any way, shape or form. Andy yet, Paul encouraged the believers to understand that all of these were worth conquering.

The goal of the believer is to know Christ and his love. This love is worth the conquering. If we are unwilling to endure hardships we will not know the love of Christ. At the same time, none of the hardships of life are large enough to separate us from Christ's love. No matter what the world may throw at us, his love survives, making us more than conquerors.

Application:
Just reading the newsfeed in Facebook is overwhelming. Today's news stories include massive flooding, the untimely death of the innocent, illnesses, economic concerns, earthquakes, war, etc. How do we respond in the midst of these situations?

Paul reminds us that all of these things are worth conquering in light of knowing the love of Christ. For us to truly believe this we must be in a deeply intimate relationship with our Lord. Just attending church on Sundays (occasionally) and maybe even participating in a Bible Study will not take us to that place of intimacy with him! To truly know the love of Christ we must maintain a relationship — in his presence — on a daily basis. This means time in prayer, worship, study of the word, fellowship with other believers and a genuine desire to organize all of life around our love of Christ.

Does this mean that it makes the troubles of life easy? Never! Does this mean we will never suffer through any of these difficulties? No! But it does mean that the love that we experience in our deeply intimate relationship with Christ can overcome all the obstacles that this world may throw our direction. It’s that love that goes with us through the deep, deep valleys of life that is worth the conquering — and nothing else.

Prayer:

Lord, please take me to the garden of fellowship with you today. Amen.

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