MONDAY March 17th
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
‘So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.’
Today’s verses automatically run into the verses we will be turning to tomorrow, so if you want to read them ahead of time then it is 2 Corinthians 5:1-5.
It is an undeniable fact, whether we like it or not that our outer self is wasting away! Okay, maybe some are faring a little better than others.
But because of the fall of man, sin entered humanity and therefore the wages of sin pronounced upon mankind, was death. But thank God, that although there is an outward sign of the perishing and decay, Paul reminds us that in Christ, the inner man is being renewed day by day.
While the outer is declining the inner is renewing! And when we look in the mirror, we may feel a little deflated sometimes, but God knows what he is doing, and Paul explains it to us with the word I have been exploring over the last week or so, and it is that the momentary affliction of wasting away is a preparation for something that is both better and eternal. And I am jumping ahead to tomorrow already, but just to warm our appetite, God has something much better prepared for us. Yes, these old creaky and cracked vessels will one day no longer creak nor crack again.
But rather than concentrate on that today, we need to ensure that we are allowing the inner man to be renewed every day. For when we came to accept Jesus, we were made alive again spiritually, and that is the most important part of who we are, the spirit, the soul, the inner man.
We can spend so much time looking after the outer man, regular exercise, eating well, and whatever else we can do to keep us looking as best we can, but we need also to be putting the same, in fact I would say even more effort into maintain spiritual wellness, for that which we see, the external is transient, but that which is unseen is eternal.