Romans 3:15: Their Feet Are Swift To Shed Blood

Romans 3:15
[15] “Their feet are swift to shed blood; (ESV)

When I was a child I remember going on long trips in the car with my parents. At that time a map was brought forth from the glove box and my poor sweet mother became the navigator. We followed the map and then my mother had to try to fold the map and get it back into the glove box. Young people today have no idea what kind of trauma this truly was.

Today we have GPS technology in our cars, or at least in our smart phones. We type in a location and off we go. Our phone will even tell us when to make a turn, or if we are driving too fast. Imagine if you typed into your smart phone, "Find me a place where I can murder someone." That sounds horrifying, does it not? Paul describes a godless humanity as longing to shed blood. Murderous.

He says their feet are swift to shed blood. At that time there was no such thing as automobiles. People walked wherever they were going. Where were they prone to go? To bring some sort of deadly destruction to someone else. This somewhat extreme example speaks to the fact that in people's hearts was a desire to deal with others unjustly and with malice.

As we look at this verse we may think that it does not apply to us. In fact, many people today will actually claim that they must be good because they have never killed anyone. In Mark 7:21 we find Jesus saying, "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery." Murder is a heart issue whether we act on it or not.

You might not have plotted a course for murder on a map or in your smart phone, but is the hatred you have in your heart toward someone any better? Surrender your heart to Jesus and place your feet on the path of righteousness.

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