DEVOTION
THE 1ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
DISCRETION OF THE LORD
1 Cor 4:8-13
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have
become kings — and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings
so that we might be kings with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us
apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in
the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as
well as to men. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We
are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this
very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we
are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless;
when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer
kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of
the world.
NIV
It is generally accepted these words were spoken in irony, for the Corinthians
have moved on in their faith with the ways of the world. Paul appears to speak indignant
sarcasm against the false and self-confident teachers in Corinth. There are
some of those types of teachers even to this day. They promote the gospel as a
means to wealth, to have everything we want. The idea is that we are kings or
the child of God and thus we should expect to have it all, fame and fortune,
living in the plushness of life, that God will give us whatever we speak. For
years we hear this name it and claim it attitude spread throughout the church.
At least they were sort of looking to God for the source of the name it, but as
of late it seems, there is more of an attitude of keeping our worldly endears
for wealth separate from our spiritual experience with God. We are rich because
of our education, our abilities, and our efforts in producing wealth and then
we store it up, hoarding it for our future pleasures of leisure. Paul compares
his life to theirs in the sense that he is forthright giving his life to God
and if that means he has little, or less, or is even beaten and hated by some,
it matters not. The point is that being a believer means believing the truth of
the gospel. When we look back through the history of the Israelites, we are amazed
at their constant rebellion against God. They had it all. They had God, himself,
leading them, meeting and speaking with Moses regarding what He wanted His children,
His chosen people to do. He opened the Red Sea for them, He provided bread from
heaven for them, and He brought them out of slavery and poverty and wanted to
give them a land of milk and honey, but they rebelled against Him. Even years
later they wanted to be like the rest of the world and have a king instead of
judges. Have we changed? Do we want what the world has, but still want to
follow Jesus in some sense? Have we divided our hearts, as it seems those
people in Corinth did? Have we blended into the world too much, as it would appear
those in Corinth did? Certainly, we do not consider ourselves or are treated as
the scum of the earth. At least in our country we are not treated brutally or
cursed. Yet, should our lives not reflect something different than the world
around us? Should we not have different goals or ambitions than the world has? Shouldn’t
we be more focused on what God desires in our lives than what we desire? There
are enough false teachers and preachers out there promoting how we are
supposed to have it all, twisting and spinning the word for their benefit.
However, we have the Spirit and He leads us into all truth and we know what we
should do, and how we should live, so let us not get distracted by all the
voices, as those in Corinth did. Let us stay the course, listen to the still
small voice of the Spirit and, live for Christ. Yes, he may enrich us in
material things, depending on where he has called us to live, work and be His
witness, but that is His doing not ours, we live at the discretion of the Lord.
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