Meditation
Romans: My most favorite redundancy in the NT is “free gift”. If it is free it is a gift and if it is a gift it is free. The point of this reading is to remind us that one cannot buy an offered gift for to do so is the height of insult. We, here in New England like to make sure we pay our own way thus depriving anyone of the opportunity either to help or serve us. God never expects us to work (i.e. pay) for our salvation – that is the same as saying to God “How much do want for Jesus?”
Gospel: Matthew 19:23-30
New Testament: Romans 4:1-12
Old Testament: Numbers 16:20-35