God Running is a place for anyone who wants to love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
In our last post from Romans we explored why Paul chose the book of Deuteronomy to communicate Jesus and the mercy of God. If you’re interested, you can read more here: What in the world was Paul thinking?–Romans 10:1-13. In today’s post we’ll see why you, and your words and acts of love for Jesus matter.
Romans 10:14-15
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Who Is Your King?
Andrew and I were having lunch in one of our favorite restaurants the other day, the local Qdoba. And sitting across the restaurant from us there was a man wearing a t-shirt with these words displayed on the front:
Mundus Sine Caesaribus
My Latin is a little rusty (which is to say, I never studied Latin). So out of curiosity, I looked it up. And it translates to:
“A world without kings.”
Fast forward to a few days later, and Andrew and I, along with his father and mother, and Kathy are in church. And we’re studying the Lord’s prayer. The pastor was looking at the part of Jesus’ prayer where he says to God our Father in heaven,
“Your kingdom come.”
I found the timing of those events to be interesting. (Matthew 6:9-13)
Why Your Life and Your Words Are Important
In today’s passage from Romans 10, Paul is sharing about how important it is for the Gospel to be shared with people. And I needed to hear that. Because sometimes when I’m writing a blog post, or trying to help someone on the margins of society, or trying to love the people around me like Jesus loved, I wonder if it makes any difference at all.
“There are so many people in the world who share about Jesus through their words and actions and good works, and they do it better than I do it,” I think to myself. “So what’s the point?”
But the thing about the Lord’s prayer is, for the Father’s kingdom to come into you, (for Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is within you) you have to give up. You have to give up your own kingdom. You have to give your life to Him. But we live in a culture today where there is a strong “no kings” sentiment. And some people will fight like hell to keep themselves as free as possible from any authority, because they want to be their own king, as it were. They want to be in charge of their own life, unencumbered by any king, of any kind, including God. (Luke 7:21 KJV)
And the voices of those who want to remain their own king, while perhaps in the minority, are some of the loudest on the internet, and in the world in general. As it happens, I heard a few of those voices today, and they’re very provocative voices aimed at arousing a very specific reaction from their audience. (If you’re interested, you can read more about that here: Outrage for Profit (and the race to your brain stem)).
Which all speaks to Paul’s point. People need to hear. People need to hear about Jesus, and his mercy, and his goodness.
People need to hear how good it is to live with Jesus as our Lord and King.
The world is full of voices with a variety of perspectives. I would say, and I think Paul would agree, if you’re a Jesus follower:
The world needs your voice.
“And how will they hear, unless we preach.”
And by preaching, I would say, don’t just focus on speaking or writing. The older I get, the more I recognize that while sharing Jesus through speaking and writing is important, communicating the Gospel through acts of love might be even more important.
The Eternal Importance of Small Acts of Love
Also, the older I get, the more I recognize how important are small acts of love.
For some of us, that’s all we have, small acts of love. That’s all the grace we’ve been given.
I take hope in Jesus’ words from Matthew 25:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
(Matthew 25:31-46)
What strikes me about those words of Jesus are the size of these acts of love. No one is scaling mountains. No one is performing miracles. They’re simply giving food to the hungry, and drink to the thirsty, and welcoming strangers, and giving clothes to people who need clothes, and visiting people who are sick or in prison. Nothing miraculous. Nothing extraordinary. Quite the opposite.
So yes, sharing Jesus verbally matters. The world needs your voice. But also:
Every small act of love matters.
Even giving a thirsty person something to drink matters.
Every small thing you do out of love for Jesus matters.
You matter.
The people I know who are most successful at sharing Jesus aren’t only focused on sharing verbally, but they’re also very intentional about sharing Jesus through acts of love.
And I should add, the people I know who are most successful at sharing Jesus aren’t focused on what they can’t say or do. They’re focused on what they can say or do.
Even if it’s small.
As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
The Love Like Jesus Book
Looking for something meaningful to listen to during the quieter winter moments? This audiobook offers practical wisdom, real stories, and gentle guidance you can take with you—whether you’re driving, folding laundry, or sneaking in a walk between the snowflakes.
Let it speak to your heart this season.
We recently released the audiobook version, beautifully narrated by Jonathan St. John. And it’s available on the following platforms:
It’s also available on Amazon, Hoopla, Audiobooksnow, Chirp, Libro, Overdrive, and virtually everywhere audiobooks are offered.
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