MONDAY April 29th
1 Corinthians 1:17-31
V17 ‘For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power’.
I am going to call this next series of devotions, Paul and his writings, a sequel to the previous set of devotions! So, however many devotions it will be it will be!
This selection of verses has been particularly special to me for as long as I can remember, at least going right back to my early teenage years, which well, is a long time ago!
I think that the older I have got, the more I have appreciated the word of God, not that I have never appreciated it, but over the years I have come to understand it more deeply and realise the importance of allowing it to be an essential part of my life.
Psalm 119:105 springs to mind, ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’. I can remember how this verse was impressed upon me as a youngster, and I look back and say, ‘Thank you Lord for your word, which truly has been a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’. I don’t know how many of the younger ones in our fellowship read the devotions, but if you do, can I encourage you to take hold of the word of God and allow it to be your lamp and light as you navigate through life, allow the word of God to be your daily guide as you make choices that will impact you both for the present, the future, and also for eternity.
Now I have selected v17 today, I can recall a pastor in my teen-age years preaching from this section, and even though I cannot recall the substance of his sermon, I do know that it had a deep impact on me, in particular verse 18 and verses 30-31 which we will arrive at over the next few days.
But for today’s devotion, verse 17 is a good reminder to us of the simplicity of the gospel message. We do not have to pack it up in religious jargon or in words that are eloquent and need an expert to unpack, we simply need to preach the gospel as it is, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, that is to save each one of us, and that he gave his life as a sacrifice for our sins, so that as we come to believe on him and to place our trust in him, we are forgiven and receive eternal life. Now of course, once we have shared the basics we can enlarge further, but first people need to hear that they are sinners, whether they like to hear it or not, and that we are heading for eternal destruction in Hell, unless we repent and believe.
As we will see in the next verse, (v18) many consider it all to be foolishness, that is why those of us who have come to faith, and have understood something of the wonder of the message need to pray that as we share the good news, that the Holy Spirit will begin to work in the hearts of the hearers, bringing both conviction and light to shine so that they will eventually respond by faith.
May God help us all to understand the simplicity and the incredible power of the gospel in such a way that as Paul said in Romans 1:16 that we will all be able to say ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes’, and that we will be willing to share the good news so that others will come to know the power of God at work in their lives.