Don't Be Road Kill (1 Corinthians 9 - 11:1)
Enough fallen bodies by the wayside these past few months/weeks to be shocked into weeping and duly warned into remembering the sheer hard work and stubborn-mindedness needed to finish running the race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
It means nothing to have the "blessings" of this life (material or spiritual) - it is not enough to be "blessed" with fat o' the land in this life, to experience true miracles, to be supernaturally healed or saved from certain physical death, to be approved to lead/teach others, to be fruitful in multiplying one's ministry; none of these are conclusive evidence that God's favour is upon us.
God loved and chose the Israelites. He rescued them from slavery in Egypt through more mighty miracles than the civilised world had ever experienced. He carefully and graciously brought them out and provided for them all along the way. Yet, with most of them he was not pleased and all but two perished in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1-10).
Running race means doing all for glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). But we do not run aimlessly (1 Corinthians 9:26). There is no licence for doing what we think bring him glory; God is fairly clear on what he wants - for all people to be saved. God will be worshipped on his own terms and not ours. We are duly warned by the destruction of the Israelites to made a golden calf as part of their worship and gratitude to the God who saved them (1 Corinthians 10:7), the killing of those who took sins lightly (1 Corinthians 10:8), the destruction of those who distrusted God (1 Corinthians 10:9) and the proud (1 Corinthians 10:10).
How can we then be so blindly bold as to insist on our rights and so hinder people accepting the gospel and its blessings (cf 1 Corinthians 9:1-23)?
How can we then be so glibly presumptuous of our freedom that we are dismissive of our worship of demons? (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)
Yet, God tells us that we will do so. Sacrificing our rights, not stumbling others, being paranoid about whom we worship are not good-to-haves for Advanced Christians. They are matters of eternal life and eternal death. Even the apostle Paul himself was in danger of being disqualified in the race after having seen Jesus and spent a lifetime preaching the Way (1 Corinthians 9:27). What more, we?
Let us beat our bodies and keep them under control, lest we too fall by the wayside. We have no excuse, for God can be trusted not to let us be overwhelmed with the temptation to stop running the race; he will give us an escape route from sin (1 Corinthians 10:13).
*for future personal reference - David Burke/ORPC, NIECU, SMUCF grads, that which caused an elder to leave his church, old lady killer litter and the 4D hunter etc
It means nothing to have the "blessings" of this life (material or spiritual) - it is not enough to be "blessed" with fat o' the land in this life, to experience true miracles, to be supernaturally healed or saved from certain physical death, to be approved to lead/teach others, to be fruitful in multiplying one's ministry; none of these are conclusive evidence that God's favour is upon us.
God loved and chose the Israelites. He rescued them from slavery in Egypt through more mighty miracles than the civilised world had ever experienced. He carefully and graciously brought them out and provided for them all along the way. Yet, with most of them he was not pleased and all but two perished in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1-10).
Running race means doing all for glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). But we do not run aimlessly (1 Corinthians 9:26). There is no licence for doing what we think bring him glory; God is fairly clear on what he wants - for all people to be saved. God will be worshipped on his own terms and not ours. We are duly warned by the destruction of the Israelites to made a golden calf as part of their worship and gratitude to the God who saved them (1 Corinthians 10:7), the killing of those who took sins lightly (1 Corinthians 10:8), the destruction of those who distrusted God (1 Corinthians 10:9) and the proud (1 Corinthians 10:10).
How can we then be so blindly bold as to insist on our rights and so hinder people accepting the gospel and its blessings (cf 1 Corinthians 9:1-23)?
How can we then be so glibly presumptuous of our freedom that we are dismissive of our worship of demons? (1 Corinthians 10:14-22)
Yet, God tells us that we will do so. Sacrificing our rights, not stumbling others, being paranoid about whom we worship are not good-to-haves for Advanced Christians. They are matters of eternal life and eternal death. Even the apostle Paul himself was in danger of being disqualified in the race after having seen Jesus and spent a lifetime preaching the Way (1 Corinthians 9:27). What more, we?
Let us beat our bodies and keep them under control, lest we too fall by the wayside. We have no excuse, for God can be trusted not to let us be overwhelmed with the temptation to stop running the race; he will give us an escape route from sin (1 Corinthians 10:13).
*for future personal reference - David Burke/ORPC, NIECU, SMUCF grads, that which caused an elder to leave his church, old lady killer litter and the 4D hunter etc
1 Comments:
"God loved and chose the Israelites. He rescued them from slavery in Egypt through more mighty miracles than the civilised world had ever experienced." I am completely in agreement with that.
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