Jesus’ Ministry
January 17, 2019
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.
–1 Corinthians 12:1-3
I wonder what circumstances in Corinth led Paul to explain that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’? I assume that such a situation did happen, it became so controversial that Paul felt the need to intervene. We live in a world where writing or saying bizarre or wacky things is constantly used as a distraction from real issues that need to be considered. Besides reading or listening to the news each day I now must review fact checkers to help determine what was fact, partial fact, fiction, or at the least was taken out of context. Such behavior is becoming the norm in our country. We all get so bent out of shape over the craziness we lose track of the real issues. Jesus said, Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:37)
The greatest challenge is figuring out how to deflect the distraction without making the distraction even bigger. Letting others drag us to their level of divisiveness helps them not our cause. We must become shrewder than them at taking the high road as they are at dragging us down.
‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16
Prayer: Grant us your peace, O God, so that we may be ready when called upon to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Amen.