Scripture
I could wish that I were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.

Observation
Despite the fact that the Jewish people have rejected Christ, Paul reminds us that they are blessed by God.

Paul wishes that he could have the opportunity of winning them, even if it meant surrendering his own relationship with Christ for their sake.

It is the Jews who have the covenants, the glorious worship, the promises and the history, even the ancestors of Christ,

Application
Although Paul is called the apostle to the Gentiles, he still has a passionate love for his own people the Jews.

Do we share this passion for our own people to see them saved?

Paul also makes it clear that anti-Semitism has no part in the church. The Jews are the people who made it possible for Jesus to come into the world and lay down his life for the world.

For that reason alone we should honour the role of Israel and its people.

Prayer
Father, give me the same passion for my nation that Paul had for his own. Amen.