Just a pebble in your shoe...

Like the song says: It started as a small thing, just a pebble in your shoe.

Romans 9.30-32 says, "What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone."

Are you an Israelite or a Gentile in this case? Have you become righteous through your lifestyle of faith? Or have you followed rules step by step, and in doing so, missed the point altogether?  If you have been a church-going believer for any length of time, you have probably heard the message that when Jesus showed up on the scene, things changed. We're no longer bound by the law. Instead, we are justified through faith. This is a thought that is conveyed often, so let me take a different viewpoint.

Are you aware of the stumbling blocks in your life? The first step is to identify your stumbling blocks. It is often the "acceptable" sins that are the biggest stumbling blocks. Do you gossip? Lie? Overeat? Smoke? These are the stumbling blocks. Are you, like the Israelites with the law, going to blind yourself to the damage it does to your life and your relationship with God?  Romans 10.4 says,  "Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."


Christ is the culmination of everything in your life. He is the one who removes your stumbling blocks. This is a lesson that I continue to learn. This is a lesson we must learn. Otherwise that pebble in our shoe will become the boulder that crushes us. Believe; have faith; Christ will remove those stumbling blocks. He will knock them down, destroy them, demolish them...they will be no more!