! Corinthians 1:26-29
- Notice among yourselves, dear
brothers, that few of you who follow Christ have big names or power or wealth. Instead, God has deliberately chosen to use ideas
the world considers foolish and of little worth in order to shame those people
considered by the world as wise and great. He
has chosen a plan despised by the world, counted as nothing at all, and used it
to bring down to nothing those the world considers great, so that no one anywhere can ever brag in the
presence of God.
Paul was writing to the Christians at
Corinth…but he clearly states that the words God has given him to share with
them are for all Christians. He tucks this truth of God’s power into a letter
calling for unity …for many of the Christians there were beginning to divide
themselves according to the most popular preachers. Paul was worried that the
gospel would get diluted and people would attach themselves to man instead of
the God that sacrificed His life for them.
It’s one of the hardest things for man in
general to understand about Christianity….because becoming a follower of God
does not guarantee us a rich life…as the world defines it. Some of the strongest Christians I know live
below the US’s standard poverty line. They don’t define their life by money…fame…or
even what house they live in. They
little they have is considered great wealth to them…and they never question why
God asked them to live that way.
True power…contentment in who God made us…and
where God asked us to serve him is based on the amount of faith we have in God.
It has nothing to do with how many shoes are in our closet…what outfit we buy
for Easter Sunday…whether we have friends in high places…or how much we have in
our bank account at any given time. It is solely dependent on how strong our
relationship is with God…and our obedience to what He asks us to do.
God chooses to bless some with power and
fame….and money. Some of those use it to
His glory…and some waste it in selfish journeys to become even greater. Some use the power of God to stay humble like
Paul…and some let pride take over and puff them up into people that usually
fall apart after a time. Makes me glad
to be somewhere in the middle on the world’s scale of wealth. I sure don’t stand a chance of becoming a millionaire….and
I am far from famous. God gives me everything I need…plus just a tad over. I needed the reminder to use that extra to
help him more so I don’t get tempted to reward myself for things that might
build too much pride in my heart.
Father…thank you for the reminder that to
be truly great in Your eyes I must be last. Forgive me for the times that I let
the world tempt me to use its scale of greatness to measure myself. Help me to
always measure myself by Your standards…always considering myself less than
those around me. Thank you for the way you care for me …allowing me to live
with all that I need and more. Help me to be more loving to those that have so
much less than I ...but yet love you so much more than I have learned to
love. Bless them today with just a
little more than they are used too…so they can feel your great power work
miracles in their lives. Amen.
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