One of my favorite memories from when I was a little boy is when my dad would let me park the family car. He would stop the car just in sight of home and set me on his lap. I’d reach my arms wide and grab the big steering wheel. Then he’d put the car in drive and let it inch towards home, tapping the brakes and coaching me to steer it into our driveway.


Just as Dad pointed me in the direction of our driveway as a child, Romans 5:8 starts us down the road toward appreciating this month’s theme, “Jesus, Friend of Sinners.” What a beautiful thought. The Creator of the Universe has befriended us lowly, imperfect people. If you were to read today’s passage and highlight every benefit of our friendship with Him, you would have over a dozen new marks on the page – and every one of them is a direct result of something God did for us through Jesus; there is not a single work of our own by which we have this friendship! In fact, the only thing we do is something Paul mentions three times (vv. 2, 3, and 11) – Rejoice!


About the writer:

Anthony Russo lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Amy. He has worked as an Information Technology professional for nearly 25 years but will graduate this month from Luther Rice Seminary and University with an MA in Biblical Counseling. Both he and his wife are pursuing biblical counseling certification. This is Anthony’s second Anchor devotional, and he is the author of the book, Pleasant Places: Short Essays on the Christian Life.