Day #17 - What Is Missing?

The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Photo by Nick on Unsplash

Is there anything worse in life than wasted talent?

It tears me up inside to see people that just sit on their gifts, talents or abilities and not use them to bless others. I’m not referring to church life only, but any area of life. It breaks my heart to see potential that is side-lined. I don’t know why it is, but I feel an ache inside when people waste their talent.

There are several ways to look at the reality of sin according to the Scriptures. The word sin itself in the Greek language means wrongdoing or to miss the mark. The two ways that I think we tend to understand sin in our Western thinking is either breaking God’s law or breaking God’s heart. In other words, sin is described as a legal or a relational problem.

I believe that Scripture affirms these above definitions but Romans 3:23 shows us another layer of meaning. Let’s look at Bible scholar Douglas Moo’s commentary on this verse:

“The second verb states the consequences of the first: because all have sinned, all are falling short of the glory of God. “Glory” in the Bible characteristically refers to the magnificent presence of the Lord, and the eternal state was often pictured as a time when God’s people would experience and have a part in that “glory(1).’”

We see that according to Romans 3, sin is also a falling short of our human potential, a waste of our talent if you will. And what is our human potential? To live in the glory of God. This is what we lost, God’s presence and glory. Historically, Adam sinned and caused humankind to experience this fallenness. But even currently we must admit that sin is also something that is not only inherited in our lives, but also something we participate in that hurts us and grieves God.

Sin not only cost us collectively in the past as the human race but presently and personally it costs us to live short of the glory of God. We were made for God’s presence and to live in His glory. See sin for the enemy that it is. Sin is out to rob you of the weighty presence that is God’s glory.

Father God, thank you for your intention for me to live in your glory, your manifest presence. I long for your presence. Forgive me for the foolishness of sin that causes me to live in a fallen state below my potential. Help me to live for your glory and in your glory. Give me a hatred for the robbery that sin brings in and through my life. In your name Jesus, amen.

(1) Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 226). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.