All Encompassing Purpose

All Encompassing Purpose

This year, I am working through the M'Cheyne bible reading plan.  M'Cheyne was a young man born and raised in Edinburgh.  He passed away just months shy of his 30th birthday.  Despite being so young, his books and hymns were widely published.  I've known M'Cheyne primarily for his one-year bible reading plan.  It is organized so that you read an Old Testament and a New Testament passage in the morning with the family, then different Old Testament and New Testament passages in the evening in your personal devotion time.  This year, I've found myself in Paul's letter to the Romans far earlier than usual.  As I read from M'Cheyne's plan, reflecting on M'Cheyne's short life dedicated to the spread of the gospel, Paul's narrowed and focused purpose resonated with me.  He introduces his letter to the Romans with these words:

Paul... set apart for the [promised] gospel of God...3 concerning his Son...Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, - Romans 1:1-6 (redacted)

Out of Paul's narrowed purpose to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, the clear and eternal purpose of his readers has come to light.  In other words,

Paul discovered from the gospel that his purpose was to share the gospel.  We, too, find that the gospel directs our lives to share the gospel.

As one who has heard and believed the gospel of Jesus, you are now set apart by the grace of God to be a gospel bearer.  You sharing the good news of Jesus with your friends is the only way that they will know their eternal purpose.

That's why RIC exists: to see diverse people discover their living purpose in Jesus Christ. 

It is our all-encompassing purpose; to be together for the Gospel in Rome,

Loren