365 Days with God - Day 146: Not Exclusionary

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 146, May 15, 2014

Readings: Psalm 145, Numbers 31, Obadiah 1:15-21, 1 Timothy 2

 Ever get the feeling that some people shouldn't be given pardon for their sins? Maybe what they've done is so atrocious, or so long-lived, that if it was up to you, you wouldn't forgive them? Do you write them off? Do you protest against them? What does God say about it?

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:1-6)

Supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving doesn't sound much like protesting. Or picketing. Or judging. In fact, it sounds like God cares a lot more for these people than I often do. Like he wants them saved. Wants them to come to know him. To love him. Surely, he wants them to change as well. But God never writes them off. Never says that they are too far gone, unlovable. God desires that all people would be saved.

Which doesn't leave us doing nothing - it leaves us with the challenge of loving those who we struggle with. Not only treating them amicably, but seeking their good through prayer. God doesn't want us to just be passive in their salvation - he wants us to actively petition God to see them saved.