Verse of the Day for June 23

Verse thirty is a chain of four links. Predestinated, called, justified, glorified. And every one of them is in the past tense, including the last.

That is strange. Glory has not arrived yet for the Romans Paul is writing to. They are still suffering, still waiting. Yet he writes them he also glorified as though it were finished. In God's mind, the end of the work is as certain as the beginning.

So when Paul asks What shall we then say to these things? he is speaking to people in the middle. Not at the start, full of energy, and not at the finish, but in the long tiring stretch where the work is real and the outcome is not yet seen.

His answer argues from the larger thing to the smaller. He that spared not his own Son, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? This is not a promise of every wish. It is a promise that the God who gave the greatest gift will not leave you short of what you need to reach home.

Halfway through a building project, a degree, or a hard season of raising children, it is easy to wonder if it will ever be finished. Paul is so sure of the ending he writes it in the past tense. Pick up today's portion of the work with that in mind.

God speaks of your glory as if it were already done.

The One who gave his Son will not leave you short of what you truly need for the road.