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Would You Say This?

"I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!" 

The words belong to St. Paul, in Romans 9:3, and quite honestly, I don't know that I've ever been willing to utter that phrase. To be even more honest, I read the verse recently and wondered what Paul was thinking. He said it in connection to his fellow Jews. He wrote that his grief was unending as he considered how many of his friends would die without knowing Jesus as Christ. 

Yet I still wonder what Paul was thinking. 

Consider it for a second. Aren't we continually told that God should be our focus? Aren't we taught that anything that comes first before God is an idol? Couldn't you read this and think, even for a second, that Paul values his fellow countrymen more than he does being with God?

I think you could. However...

Paul is surely more of a saint than I am. Paul, who had visions and dreams and saw things I can only imagine, was surely on to something here. 

For in this statement I believe we find a perfect blend of love for God and love for man. Paul's love for God cannot be questioned. Even his pre-Christian zeal is something to be admired. He knows God is the best thing happening....to anybody....at anytime. 

But Paul shows his true love for man when he offers his life, his eternal life, in exchange for theirs. 

I don't have an official bucket list, but this is officially on it. I want to so love people that I would be willing to trade my life for theirs. 

How about you?
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