S = 1 Corinthians 2:2-5 “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ
and him crucified…my speech and my message were not in plausible words of
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might
not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
O = When Paul first
encountered the Corinthians, it was immediately after preaching to and
reasoning with the philosophers and intellectual elite at Mars Hill (Acts 18)
in Athens. This was met with mixed results. As he then journeyed to Corinth,
instead of living as an intellectual aristocrat, he became a tent maker, but
even in that quiet life, he reasoned with both Jews and Greeks each weekend ...
not trying to impress them with his superior insights and wisdom, not with the
complexities or finer details of God's revelation, but the most basic of
realities: Jesus Christ, the crucified one. Only through Jesus' crucifixion can
the whole counsel of God be understood. Paul’s single focus is amazing and is a
great separator today in the church. It seems that we don’t like the word
“nothing”. We want to add to the simple gospel…we want to sound good and make
sense. We want to be understood and accepted. But the spiritual message about
God cannot be received except spiritually—by the Spirit of God, not by the mind
of man.
A = Why does the Lord seem to
work in such non-intuitive ways? Maybe He does not desire intuition. Why do I
need to lay aside so much of my natural way of thinking to follow Him? Maybe he
does not desire my independence, and maybe relationship with Him is the goal. I
just know that I am thankful that He has granted that I might receive the
gospel message. Now, how can I proclaim it to others this week—in simplicity
and in the power of the Holy Spirit? How will I decide to live and minister? In
what will I find my completion, my satisfaction? "Nothing...except Jesus Christ"
P = O Lord, thank you for the
simplicity of your message that confounds our reliance on rationalism, persuasive
arguments, or impressive speeches. May my words evidence the presence of your Spirit and your power for your
kingdom work. Thank you for changing my nature so that I might receive what you
bring into my life as being good and wise instead of folly. May I be able to
say with Paul, “I have the mind of Christ.”
No comments:
Post a Comment