Thursday, June 4: 1Corinthians 4- Four thoughts.

Four thoughts.  Where to linger???

Verse 7: For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Why do I (we) boast about things we have or what we have made of ourselves, etc., etc., etc.? Paul is right.  Everything I have, I have been given as a gift. My middle class upbringing… gift. My educational opportunities… gift. My health, jobs, the list goes on… all gifts.  They are gifts in the sense that I didn’t earn them, they were granted to me. So rather than boasting, I guess I should be thankful and use them to God’s glory.

Verses 11-13 (see also 9&10): To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

When Paul needs to boast about his apostleship, these are the things he writes about, his dedication seen in persecution, slander, homelessness, brutal treatment. How vast the gulf between this and what many “big names of the faith” boast about today. I have particularly been  thinking about a number of televangelists and prosperity preachers who flaunt worldly riches as proof of their faithfulness. How far we have fallen from the truth and example of the men and women of the early church who sacrificed everything for the name of Jesus.

Verses 16-17 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, …. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

Imitate me… my way of life which agrees with what I teach. Consistency, integrity, honesty and above all, non-hypocritical. Paul teaches what he lives and lives what he teaches. How refreshing. Lord, may this be said of me when life is over and my journey is laid bear for all to see. May this be said of all of us who follow Jesus, our Lord.

Verse 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Words only communicate so much. Paul constantly refers to the power of God in his life, ministry and teaching.

Lord, where is the power today… in the church? In my life and living for You? Lord, am I such a son of the enlightenment that I have lost the sense of Your power, which can’t be proved by science, only experienced by Your grace?

Well, I guess I chose to linger a while with each of the four. J

Thank You, Lord God, for the richness of Your Word and the many ways it can and does touch my life every time I spend time with it. Praise be to You, Lord God.

May I grow to be more and more like my Savior Jesus and may I more and more imitate the apostles and great sisters and brothers of the faith from generations past. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.