Effective Service
1 Corinthians 15:1--11
"... I worked harder than all of them -- yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." (v. 10)
We considered yesterday the story of Fletcher of Madeley who said to a government official: "I want nothing ... except more grace." One wonders what account the official gave when he returned to the Lord Chancellor. "Nothing we can offer seems to attract him. The only thing he wants is more grace!" Dr. W. E. Sangster, in The Pure in Heart, said that all who know God deeply have a high view of grace. They have learned to look at all the values of earth in the light of heaven. They have seen how absurd it is to put their trust in riches, the meaninglessness of angling for applause, credits and titles, and they have come to the conclusion that the only really valuable thing in life is grace. Few will argue with the fact that the apostle Paul was one of the greatest Christians who has ever lived, and so it is interesting to note from today's passage that he labored for God not in his own strength but in the strength God gave him. The grace of God is essential not only to live a holy life but to live a helpful one also. The best way to serve others is to reach out to them in the strength that God gives to us. This is the point the great apostle is making. "I worked harder ... yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." The work of Christ must be done by Christ Himself for no one else can do it. He who lives in us must labor through us.
Prayer:
O God, how foolish I am to try to labor for You in my own strength. In spurning the grace You provide I do myself and others a disservice. And more -- grieve Your heart. Forgive me dear Father and make me a more reliant person. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
For Further Study
2 Cor. 1:1--12; 6:1; 1 Pet. 4:10
1. What was Paul's boast?
2. What did he urge the Corinthians to do?
and then yesterday's
December 14
A Christ Not in Us...
Galatians 2:11--21
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (v. 20)
We saw yesterday that the apostle Paul claimed his labors were energized by the grace given to him by God. He says something similar in the text before us today: "I no longer live ... Christ lives in me." The apostle had learned that it was not enough to give all of his strength to the work of Christ, though he certainly did that; he had to receive Christ's strength in order to do His work. I have seen Christians suffer a breakdown as a result of trying to live the Christian life in their own strength. On one occasion I was present at a dinner given in honor of a certain bishop. During the after-dinner speeches I heard a layman make a terrible blunder when he declared: "Bishop, we are both doing God's work; you in your way, and I in His." Question yourself at this very moment and ask: Am I doing God's work in my own way or in His? "A Christ not in us, imparting His grace to us," said the great preacher William Law, "is the same as a Christ not ours." I don?t know about you but I find those words terribly challenging. Is this why so many of us fail to go as deeply with God as we ought? We have received Christ but we do not allow Him to diffuse Himself through all our faculties, to animate us with His life and Spirit. Let William Law's words strike deep into your soul: "A Christ not in us, imparting His grace ... is the same as a Christ not ours."
Prayer:
Gracious and loving Father, your challenges are my salvation. You wound in order to win me. Help me to take my medicine without complaining and open myself up to all that You are saying to me in the words I have read today. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
For Further Study
Eph. 3:1--9; James 4:4--6; 1 Pet. 5:5
1. What did grace enable Paul to do?
2. What did James declare?
Talk about a shake up, I was told by a priest I respected much that part of his focus during a service was "being in touch with the Spirit"
For much of my journey, I have similarly tried with varying success to be in touch with the Spirit through appreciating God in nature, creation, music, art, people, and so on. In quiet times to picture the Holy Spirit being as it were a shadow within, a copy of self. again with varying measures of success.
Selwyn turns that principle upside down, the Galatians passage, "It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me" is not seeking for a taste of Jesus within us, it is seeking for a taste of us within Jesus within.
Tied to the previous day where Paul knows that it is not his own efforts which achieve but Jesus' and how natural for his grace to flow when we appreciate that our endeavours are not only for him but from him because he is our core not just an add on or facsimilie or mirror image.
Goodonya Selwyn
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