A Life Worthy

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing (1 Corinthians 1:22-24).

We’re surrounded by presidential wanna-be’s.

It’s an election year, so the candidates are everywhere; primping and posing and posturing and preparing to present their potential presidential prowess.

I wanna run and hide in my sock drawer just to escape them.

A year from now, one of these…people will be the leader of our nation, the Commander-in-Chief of our military, arguably the most powerful individual on the planet.

And yet, if that person does not have Christ, they will come to nothing.

Their power, their wisdom, their influence…la nada grande.

Remember that in today’s post-primary pandemonium.  

We may vote for a president, but we serve a King.

Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

The cross.

Paul just keeps coming back to it.

As should we

Beloved, there is a constant temptation before us to rely on our own skills, our own talents, our own hard work.  It’s at the core of our being.

Sometimes it spurs us to do great things.

Mostly, it drives us from God.

Paul didn’t want to risk people following him rather than Jesus, so he kept it simple:

God loves you.

He died for you, because he loves you.

Your debt has been paid, because he loves you.

Come be free, because he loves you.

As you dive into your week, remember: no matter what your job is, your mission is simple.

Show them the cross.

Happy Monday, Beloved.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by the world’s standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things–and things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

Remember the story of Baalam and his donkey?  

That would be you.

No…not Baalam.

And just as God used a lowly donkey to school a prophet, God can and will and does use you.  

Yes, you are weak.  

You’re right, you don’t know the Bible as well as you ought.

Your prayer life?  Well, I wasn’t going to use the word “pathetic,” but if you insist…

Doesn’t mean he won’t use you.

Of course, he may not use you in the way you lobbied for.  I keep pointing out to God how well he could use me as a multibillionaire writer/speaker/boogie dancer.  He has not yet seen fit to take my advice.

Go figure.

Still, I trust that he is using me, teaching in my little classroom, writing my little blog, loving my little family.

And he’s using you.  Trust me.

Better yet, trust Him.

Happy Thursday, Beloved.

Jews demand miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:22-24).

He just refuses to be what you demand of him.

Instead, he is so much more.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

What could possibly seem foolish about it?

“You see, there’s this All-Powerful Being who has full control over all space and time and matter and life–you know, ‘cause he made ‘em.   So, anyways, this God had everything just perfect, and then he made people, but he gave people the power to choose whether they would believe in him or not and whether they would follow his pretty simple rules or not.  He also gave them the spark of individuality, because he didn’t want automatons but interesting souls that he might call friends.  Well, you know, people chose not to follow him, because we have an Enemy who stoked people’s egos and gave them the idea that they could do a better job of running things than the One who made them. So we walked away from God–ran actually–and broke pretty much all his rules and messed things up so badly that we couldn’t have loved him properly even if we had wanted to.  God knew that there was only one way to fix this.  All the bad choices and evil things we had done would have to be washed away so that there could be a relationship between us.  Which, really, was what God wanted more than just about anything.  Of course, this would take a level of punishment that we could never endure, so God sent his Son–closer, more beloved, more part of himself that we can ever hope to understand–and let him take that punishment on our behalf.  The most powerful being ever chose to lay all his glory aside and become a man.  Then he chose to allow other men to hate him and torture him and nail him to a piece of wood and leave him to die in utter loneliness. He did all that to clear the slate, so that we could come back to God.  Then he broke Death itself into a million pieces by rising from the grave.  So, now we can have fellowship with God, and we are called to model our lives after His. We are his Beloved, and we will live forever with the One who loved us enough to die for us.  And live for us.”

The World calls you a fool for believing this.

Let ‘em.

Happy Friday, Beloved.