Jesus’ Ministry
February 21, 2019
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50
But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. –1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42
As I stated previously, I do not concentrate much on the bodily aspects of the resurrection. I do take interest in the idea that we die to an old way of being and are raised to a new way that will structure who we are and what we do for eternity. Some experience a dramatic shift as Paul did on the road to Damascus but even Paul withdrew into the desert perhaps for three years and pondered what had happened in his encounter with Christ. Most of us through study and meditation gradually become new persons. I rather like the way the song Have Thine Own Way puts it:
Have Thine own way, Lord,
Have Thine own way;
Thou art the Potter,
I am the clay.
Mould me and make me
After Thy will,
While I am waiting,
Yielded and still*.
Prayer: In the crush and clatter of life that pulls us all in many directions, teach us to be still and know that you are God and are using every one of our experiences to make us the persons we need to be in your service. Amen.
First verse of Have Thine Own Way by Adelaide Addison Pollard see at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/449