Romans 13:8-14 (NRSV)
Read Romans 13:8-14 on biblegateway.com
Verse 8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Verse 9The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Verse 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Verse 11Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; Verse 12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; Verse 13let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Verse 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Devotion
Paul offers a clear instruction to the Romans: turn toward love. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
When you look at the commandments, it’s easy to see that many of them coalesce into this one instruction. Not because the rules stop mattering, but because love was always what they were pointing to. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. It’s not a soft substitute for the law. It’s the whole point of the law.
And Paul’s invitation to love is an urgent one: “the night is far gone; the day is near.” Wake up. This isn’t a task for someday, it is a task for today, now. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” today, see the shape of his way, and speak his message to the world. In today’s ordinary rooms, to today’s ordinary neighbors: love, and love now.
Prayer
Lord, wake us up and send us to love, today. Amen.
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