Daily RCL Bible Reading Devotional – February 29th, 2016

Scripture Reading(s)

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

10:1 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,

10:2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

10:3 and all ate the same spiritual food,

10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

10:5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

10:6 Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.

10:7 Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.”

10:8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.

10:9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.

10:10 And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

10:11 These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

10:12 So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.

10:13 No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

Reflections

Paul is reminding his readers of the fact that the past sins of the nation of Israel is something they should be made aware of. He writes as a warning for us not to make the same mistakes that they had committed and missed out on Gods blessings. They indulged in things of this world that God had warned them not to take part of. Furthermore, He had given them a means to avoid sinning yet they still chose to take part in the worlds temporary pleasures.

1. Memorize scripture – having Gods word reign in your heart will help give you the strength to fight off temptation
2. Seek accountability – having a godly friend pour into your life through prayer and encouraging conversation will help keep you grounded and avoid temptation
3. Pray daily – keep seeking for Gods help and strength to continually keep you from giving into temptation and to extend Grace and forgiveness when you have moments of weakness.

Someone once gave a speech about why they converted from Christianity to Islam. What caused him to question his faith more than anything were all the imperfect people in the Bible. From Abraham to Moses everyone had one problem or another and God’s chosen people were often disobedient. He surmised that the Bible could not possibly be inspired by God since some many of God’s people are messed up yet we lift them up in our Christian faith.

But this was a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Bible and why certain things are written in it. When the Israelites disobey God and it’s recorded in the Old Testament it’s not because God is promoting that behavior. It’s because they are to serve as a warning to future generations. In fact, some stories in the Old Testament (I believe) are there only to serve as a warning. Think of the story of Samson….. is that a story of warning or a story of glory? I would submit that it is a story of warning.

Why does any of this matter? Because as we read the Bible we need to be able to learn what God requires of us. Inversely, we need to be able to discern what not to do. This can be gleaned from real life as well as the Bible. I would submit that reading the stories of woe and the warnings of the prophets is one of the best ways to understand what God requires of us. Paul knew this and that is what he was trying to help the Corinthians see.

These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.

[Featured image form growingupintheword.blogspot.com, which appears to have originated from mybible.com]