May 7. 1 Corinthians 10. Torene Jones
Don’t Be Ignorant!
Paul says, “I don’t want you to be ignorant.” It sounds like we need to know this!
Our ancestors were under a cloud, all passed through the sea. They were baptized into Moses in this way – with water all around – just as we are baptized into Christ.
Their spiritual nourishment and the rock that accompanied them was Christ – he is the bread of life and gives us living water. We live by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt 4:4). Following his commands leads to eternal life (John 12:50).
God was not pleased with our ancestors – it was a one-sided relationship. God gave to them, but their response was sin and grumbling. The consequence of their disobedience was death.
What does God want? Ephesians 5:10 says to find out what pleases the Lord. To love God is to obey God (1 John 2:5). God wants a humble and contrite spirit, one who trembles at his word (Isaiah 66:2).
We are to be broken about our sin. There was sin in the hearts of those that were scattered, as is in all humans. God wanted them to be sad about their sin and to repent! Remember his word leads to eternal life, and God gave them that spiritual food so they could have eternal life. They wanted to receive from God, but not reciprocate. There are consequences to this. We can’t take from the Lord and just do what we want.
What was their sin that God doesn’t want us to repeat? They set their hearts on evil things (vs 6), idolatry, indulging in drunkenness, and wildness (vs 7), grumbling (vs 10). Instead of devoting themselves to righteousness, they chose to engage in all kinds of sin. Those who sinned died.
We must have humility to stand firm on God’s word, and not on our own strength or ideas. We all have temptation, but obeying God is our way out of temptation. If we work hard to avoid sin on the front end, it won’t be as difficult to find the door out of temptation. God always provides a way out.
We have a choice to dine with the demons or with Christ, but we cannot feast from both tables. God is a jealous God, a consuming fire (Deut 4:24).
This makes me think about a marriage where one spouse is so in love, giving, sacrificing, paying attention to every need, going above and beyond, while the other spouse is unfaithful.
Do I test the Lord in any of these ways? Instead of drinking from the cup of thanksgiving, I do find myself grumbling complaining when things are not going the way I think they should. God sent the destroying angel (v. 10) for that sin! Those angels take entire cities! (Genesis 19 & 1 Chronicles 21:15)
As much as I want to believe that my heart is pure, I do find myself tempted by evil. If someone hurts my feelings or offends me - where does my mind go!? My idolatry may look different, but is it really?
While I may have freedom in Christ to make certain choices, I have to ask how my choices affect God, my brothers and sisters, the lost, and even myself. Whatever we do, we need to do it all for the glory of God. If I can pray with those words before every decision, I believe God will be honored and loved by me, and he can use me to impact anyone around me.