By Romans 9:1-5
I speak the truth in Christ — I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit — that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, praised forever., Amen.
Does your own heart break for family members you have that are still outside of Christ? Paul was an Israelite. His own people, in great part, had rejected the good news of Jesus being the promised Messiah. They had the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the temple service, and the promises; yet they did not believe that those promises were complete and fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Paul's heart was broken. He had an intense sorrow, and an anguish in his heart that was continual for his people. He longed for them to believe upon, and rest in the Jesus he had come to love. He stops just shy of wishing that he could take their place when he says that he could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah, if he could benefit them by taking the curse for them.
So we ask again, does your own heart break for the family members you have that are still outside of Christ? I am suggesting that we do two things this evening for our Bible time. First, we each confess our own calloused hearts, and ask to be given new hearts of love for the unsaved. And second, we pray for each and every family member we have that still does not know Jesus as their Lord and Redeemer.
Leading Family Devotions 