April 13, 2010 (Acts 18:19-19:41, 1 Corinthians 1-4)

Well, I blogged the 12ths reading before taking Cooper to a Drs. appointment. We were her first patient (8am), and were finally seen at about 8:55am. She drives down from Denver and obviously didn't leave early enough to allow for traffic issues, etc. As I signed Cooper into school at 9:30am, I found myself complaining about what had just happened. As I finished my 'rant', I said, "Wait, I'm supposed to be thankful! Well, I guess I'm thankful we aren't any later than we are!" Just those two little verses - 'always be joyful' and 'no matter what happens, always be thankful' - wow, if only I could do that....

So, now to 1 Corinthians. Here's another encouraging promise:

^1:8 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. ⁹ God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

And then Paul goes on to say that people will think that Christians are 'idiots' (kind of).

^1:18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. ¹⁹ As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

²⁰ So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. ²¹ Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

These beginning chapters are good reminders that everything is from God and everything is through Christ. None of us have any reason to boast. Everything we have has been given to us by God and He particularly likes the 'simple' people in order to show His power through them:

²⁶ Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. ²⁷ Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. ²⁸ God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. ²⁹ As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

³⁰ God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom. ³¹ Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about what the Lord has done.”

^2:1 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. ² For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. ³ I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. ⁴ And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. ⁵ I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

Again, Paul brings us back to Jesus. Everything is because of Him, and even can only be known through Him. I think too often we try to live the Christian life 'on our own'. But it's God's Spirit that is the one to guide us, as we see below:

¹⁰ But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God’s deep secrets. ¹¹ No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God's thoughts except God’s own Spirit. ¹² And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

I don't know about you, but I'm drawn to wanting to know the secrets of God. But I think it's kind of like when Jesus' disciples wanted to sit on His right and left in heaven. Jesus told them they really didn't know what they were asking, knowing the sacrifice that would be required of them in order to allow that. I have a feeling that's the way it is with knowing God's secrets. I don't think they are revealed to everyone - only those willing to suffer for His sake. Which makes me ask, "How much do I really want to know them? Am I willing to pay the price?"