Ps. 130-132
Reading today’s first two Psalms really impressed me with God’s greatness. “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” (Ps 130:3-4). Other words used for “feared” here are revered and worshipped. So the thought to me is that, without God’s forgiveness, we couldn’t even serve or worship Him. That’s how high and holy He is. Like David in Psalm 131, I need to quietly acknowledge my low place and put all my hope in this great God.
1 Cor. 1
I noted in yesterday’s reading of Acts 18 that regardless of the messenger or the delivery style, the message of God’s Truth is the same. Jesus is the Christ. This is the main thing. It seems that the church at Corinth lost track of the main thing. Division arose over the various messengers. Whether they preferred the teaching style or simply the personality of one person versus another, they were identifying their faith based on the messenger who most struck a chord with them.
We are all familiar with the phrase, “don’t shoot the messenger.” Well, the opposite holds true as well – don’t worship the messenger! It is not the strength or the wisdom of the messenger, nor his actions or his words, that give the message its power. It is Jesus, the message in flesh, “who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor 1:30b). Jesus is the One who saves us, not the one who teaches us about Jesus. This is why, whether you are on the receiving or the giving end of God’s message of Truth, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor 1:31).