“All the Breaks” Doesn’t Guarantee “Success”

When we read the news online or if you still read the newspaper, it seems like there are people out there who seem to get “all the breaks”.  They are born with the silver spoon in their mouth or because of their beauty, riches, or athletic ability, they get everything handed to them.  Even when they make a mistake, others seem willing to quickly forget about it or to cover for them.  This may be true from a worldly standpoint but in God’s eyes, having “all the breaks” doesn’t guarantee success.  Paul writes in Romans 9 about his love for the Jewish people.  Paul was himself a Jew, a man who seemed to have “all the breaks”.  But until he met Jesus Christ he was shrouded in darkness.  In verses 1-5 of chapter 9 we read about Paul’s passion for his people:  9 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; ⁵ of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

In this passage Paul tells us that the Jewish people had a special relationship with God.  They were adopted as God’s people.  They had seen the glory of God.  They had been given the covenants and the law.  They had firsthand experience of God’s power, mercy and grace…yet, they didn’t know God.  They had “all the breaks” yet the majority of them rejected God and rejected Jesus as Jesus was revealed in the flesh.  We too, in America, have many breaks as well.  We have 24 hour access to bible teaching and lessons.  Most of us have the chance to worship together in comfortable chairs and nice buildings.  We have multiple copies of the Bible in our homes…but none of that guarantees “success” spiritually.  Each of us must still come to God as repentant sinners, desperately in need of God’s grace and mercy.