Always There

Readings:
Romans 9:30-10:13

Focus:
Romans 9:32b-33:"They tripped over the 'stone' mentioned in scripture: 'Here I lay in Zion a stone to trip over, a rock to stumble against; but he who has faith in it will not be put to shame.'"

On Sundays I break from my regular sequence of Bible readings and think about the passage my husband Jim preached from in the morning. As Jim was going through this passage, he emphasized that whether people believe in Jesus or not, nevertheless they always run into him. Either he is a rock that they trip on, or he is the source of salvation, but he is never nothing. I reflected that great thinkers always deal with the question of God (I thought of diverse people such as Mark Twain and Woody Allen) even if they don't put faith in him. Literature, art, music, all are filled with humankind's wrestling with the question of God. God is unavoidable. That's because he puts himself in our path; he is a rock to stumble against, or he is the source of our faith, and he will not put us to shame.