and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written,
“Those who have never been told of him will see,
and those who have never heard will understand.”
This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.
Paul wanted to visit those in Rome; the body of believers he was writing to in this book. But he could not. Not because he didn’t want to come but because he was busy proclaiming the gospel to Gentiles in another region. He was hindered from doing what he wanted to do because he had more pressing needs regarding what he was called to do. We often can’t do what we want because we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. We all would like a retirement mentality to do what we want, when we want and how we want. Yet, that is not the ministry of the Gospel. No matter our station in life, we are called to preach the gospel. We are called to proclaim to the world around us the truth that Jesus died for mankind. We might want to do other things; other things that are not bad things. Paul wanting to fellowship with believers in Rome is not a bad thing. Yet, he was so engaged in preaching the gospel to the world around him that he was prevented to do something else. May we all have this challenge in our lives.
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