Courage to Submit
"Everything is permissible" -- but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible" -- but not everything is constructive."
1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV)
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God-- even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved."
1 Corinthians 10:31-33 (NIV)
Reflect
When have you chosen to submit to the demands of another, painful though it was, for the sake of the Gospel and the Glory of God?
Comment
There is a sense in which the entire law is thrown out for the Christian. There is a sense in which the entire law has been replaced by one simple statement, "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." In this sense you can do anything. This requires more than knowing and following the rules. This requires knowing the heart of God and aligning yourself with that, not the "rules", although of course the latter will, in their essence, necessarily flow from the former. Yes, it is true, Paul actually did write, "everything is permissible"!! And the only qualification he gave was that we make sure what we do is beneficial to God and to others.
Prayer
“Lord, I too seek the free life of simply living to glorify you, to live the kind of life that ultimately results in fulfilling every jot and tittle of the law (Matthew 5:17) by simply being led by your Spirit. Amen”
Well, after a day of "sacrificing my will", I was riding home, feeling quite frustrated and annoyed with the demands that were expected of me. I stopped for coffee at the Wawa and in the store was playing a song by The Animals, "Its My Life". Boy, that did it! I was singing along,
ReplyDelete"It's a hard world to get a break in
All the good things long gone have been taken
But girl there are ways to make certain things pay
Dressed in these rags, I'll wear sable some day
Hear what I say, I'm gonna ride that serpent
No more time spent sweatin' rent
Hear my command, I'm breakin' loose, it ain't no use
hold me down girl, stick around
and baby, remember it's my life and I'll do what I want
It's my life and I'll think like I want"....
Boy I was hummin' away (singlng actually) and then it hit me-
this is exactly what I should NOT be feeling. Funny, God will even use an old rock n roll song to get his point across. My life is His not mine.
PS it did have a good beat, though ^_^
It's my life and I'll do what I want.
Its my life and I'll think what I want.
The bottom stanza is an error, not to make a point-
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