18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

20 For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

— Romans 1:18-23, 25

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

The intricacies and beauty of God’s entire created world prove to people that He exists. Creation should draw people to seek God. Instead, people reject God but wrongly worship what God created rather than God, the Creator. People naturally should be able to sense that God exists by looking at the world around them. Yet people ignore and suppress this truth because they want to live their own way. Out of human’s darkened mind, they foolishly and willfully trade the glory of the eternal Creator for lesser, temporary created things.

God the Creator sets absolute rules and holiness standards, but the created things that people intend to worship do not judge human sin or demand repentance. God punishes this willful and rebellious ignorance by giving people over to their sins. The lives of the creature worshippers, who reject God, show that sin’s power holds them. Apart from God, the spiritual outworking of sin drags humanity downward, enslaving them in invisible chains. What is worse is that this rebellious willful ignorance incurs God’s wrath against humanity.