ESOCS Devotional 14 September 2025 – Everyone is Invited
MEMORY VERSE: “Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.” Romans 14:3 KJV
TEXT: ROMANS 14:1-11
Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. 2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
One of the best things about Jesus is that He invites us all to have a seat at the table with Him. One of the hardest things about Jesus is that He invites us ALL to have a seat at the table with Him.
Picture a table surrounded by: People who drink, and people who do not; People who curse, and people who do not; People who go to churches with 100 people, and people who go to churches with 30,000 people; People who have grown up in church, and people who have not. So many people from so many backgrounds in such close proximity will inevitably result in differences of opinion.
Every person we meet doesn’t have to feel convicted about the same things we do. In Romans 14, the apostle Paul spends 23 verses teaching us to lovingly agree to disagree. In Paul’s day, major divisions were happening over who ate kosher and who did not, who drank wine and who did not. Thousands of years later, we’re still struggling with the same tensions.
What connects Christians to one another is not what we do, but WHO we follow. We are all saved by grace through faith in Jesus. The person who drinks wine and the person who doesn’t drink at all are recipients of the same grace. Neither is breaking God’s commands, but only one has felt a conviction to forgo wine completely.
Every person we meet doesn’t have to feel convicted about the same things we do. Not only is that OK, that’s the way it should be. The Lord does not call us to all eat the same foods, He only asks that we eat the foods we have, together and in moderation.
CHALLENGES
- What are some things in your life that you feel conviction to do or not to do that might be different from some other Christians you know?
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, as I walk daily with you and other Christians, help me to understand that we are all saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
FURTHER READING: 2 Samuel 20:9-26; 2 Samuel 21:1-9; Romans 14:12-23
ESOCS Devotional 14 September 2025
