Daily Devotional • October 20
A Reading from 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
1 I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.
6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not become idolaters as some of them did, as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.”8 We must not engage in sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.11 These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. 13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.
Meditation
Imagine if Paul referenced 21st century movies. He could ask the Church in Corinth, “Hey, you know in horror movies when the group splits up and someone watching yells, ‘What are you doing?! Never split up!’ Horror movies are predictable. We know what happens if we repeat the same mistake. My siblings in Corinth, don’t be foolish. We’ve seen this movie before with the Israelites — their blessings, and their failures. You’re retracing the same steps. Turn back!”
Israel was freed from slavery in Egypt, yet they squandered their freedom and indulged in immorality, leading to death. Similarly, believers in Corinth were delivered from death by Christ’s work on the cross and blessed with the Holy Spirit in baptism, yet they risked repeating history. They dabbled in former idolatries and ignored their call to chastity. They were blessed beyond measure yet they flirted with well-deserved destruction. Perhaps we’re not too different today. While sometimes God distinctly punishes us, more often we experience the painfully natural consequences of ignoring God’s warnings against touching proverbial hot stoves in our broken world.
Thankfully, God doesn’t give up on us. In verses 11 through 13, Paul challenges us to repent, turn to God, choose to rely on Him, and look for a way out [of sin]. He reassures us that God wants to help us resist and be faithful. While sometimes God distinctly tests us, more often the trials we experience are challenges that naturally arise in a broken world. God wants to come alongside us and help us build up spiritual muscles to say “yes” to the fullness of life with Him.
Pieter Valk is a licensed professional counselor, the director of EQUIP, and cofounder of the Nashville Family of Brothers, an ecumenically Christian brotherhood for men called to vocational singleness.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Episcopal Church in Minnesota
Eglise Anglicane du Rwanda