Romans 4:13-25 (NRSV)
Read Romans 4:13-25 on biblegateway.com
Verse 13For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. Verse 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. Verse 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. Verse 16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,
Verse 17as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") -in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Verse 18Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be." Verse 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. Verse 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, Verse 21being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Verse 22Therefore his faith "was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Verse 23Now the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, Verse 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Verse 25who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
Devotion
Paul’s words in Romans feel deeply personal to me at a time when it often seems so difficult to live in hope, when what we hope for seems so distant.
In Romans 4:13-25, Paul calls on the example of Abraham as one who trusted that God would make good on God’s promises even when those promises made no sense—Abraham’s body was “as good as dead,” and Sarah’s womb was long barren. But Abraham hoped against hope, trusting not in what could be seen but in the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist.
We are reminded in this passage that the promises of God are not rooted in logic or what is predictable but in the faithfulness of a God who always shows up and always provides. Today we are invited to trust—not because things are clear and it all makes sense, but because God is faithful, even in our waiting.
Prayer
Faithful God, on the days when hope seems difficult, maybe even ridiculous, strengthen our trust in you, that even though we don’t see it, you are moving in ways we have yet to imagine. Be our reason and source of hope when we can do nothing but hope against hope. Amen.
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