For a full description of the (Y3) reading plan, see the “About” page.
- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
1 Cor. 10
People misunderstand freedom. They think it is the power to do whatever you want whenever you want. The reality, however, is that true freedom is the power to NOT do whatever you want whenever you want. True freedom is to not be controlled by your wants at all. It is only when God’s Spirit controls us that we are free to set our own desires aside in order to glorify God as He designed us to do.
1 Cor. 11
Jesus gave us a ritual to remind us that we are covered by His blood to become a part of His body. It seems the Corinthian church did what we humans are so good at doing. They distorted this ritual into something it wasn’t. What’s worse is that our human distortions of Godly things tend to cause those things to do the exact opposite of God’s intentions for them. In the case of this ritual known as communion, the Corinthians distorted it into a mere meal. Partaking in that meal was then causing them to dishonor God, disgrace themselves, and humiliate others. Not exactly a great acknowledgment of God’s new covenant with us through the sacrifice of Christ!
This is why Pau tells them – and us – to carefully judge our motives in doing things. I’d say this is especially true of Godly things. When we allow our human desires to take over our Godly service, we open ourselves up to judgment. Thankfully God is patient and merciful, offering us discipline to save us from condemnation.
1 Cor. 12
I think one point of being part of one body in Christ is unity. That seems like an obvious statement, but think about it on a deeper level. A person’s body does not fight against itself. At least, not if it is healthy. Our parts do not compete with each other. There is simply an innate understanding of how each part contributes to the whole. And when one part has a problem, other parts step in as able to cover for the ailing part. Consider the person born with no arms, who learns to use feet and toes as hands and fingers. Or the person born blind, whose other senses are heightened to cover the gap. As a body of believers, we should function the same way.