WEEKLY DEVOTIONS
How to Use These Devotions
Each devotion reflects the sermon's passage for any given week. So, you may use these:
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to prepare for Sunday (use the devotion before Sunday morning worship), or to reflect back on Sunday (use the devotion after Sunday's worship). Whatever works best for you and your family.
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to foster family worship with your spouse and/or children.
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(parents) to help your children learn about Jesus from God's word, along with the rest of the church. Modify the devotion, or the questions for your children's needs.
THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD | By Tyler Blanchard
Being a christian while living in this world feels like a balancing act. We need to exercise the agency that God has given us over his creation and our day-to-day lives; yet, we must set our minds on things above (Colossians 3). While it is good to use our own human skill (verse 10) to participate in temporal life, Paul warns us in First Corinthians 3:10-23 not to rely on it for how we live out the eternal truth and message of God.
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Pragmatism, the belief that our beliefs and actions should be assessed based on the practical results they give (instead of the eternal wisdom of God) is incompatible with the Christian Life. God does not always tell us to seek what we believe to be the best outcome. In truth, God knows the outcome. It has existed in his mind and his eternal decree from all time. What he tells us to do is obey. Sometimes, the “wisdom of this world” will tell us to compromise our obedience. Sometimes, we think we can please God with our results, and not with our submission to him, in Christ.
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This will feel unnatural and at times ridiculous. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Israelites, while doing their seventh lap around Jericho (Joshua 6), thought, “Well, I really don’t see how this is going to work.” It wouldn’t shock me if the men in Gideon's army thought it was asinine to go against thousands with only three-hundred men (Judges 7). According to worldly wisdom, those instructions from God seem unreasonable. But God does not command us to be pragmatic. In Matthew 24, Jesus tells his disciples that they can expect a life of persecution and peril. The Lord isn’t interested in what we think is the best way. He is interested in us submitting to his way!
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REFLECT
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What did Paul mean by “you are that temple?” in verse 17?
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Why did Paul use words like, “stone, wood, hay, straw” when talking about skill?
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What was the phrase, “Let him be a fool that he may become wise” mean? (verse 18)
Prayer
Lord, thank you for giving us minds so we can consider things intelligently and carefully. We ask that you would help us, not to use those minds to elevate our own wisdom, but to better understand your own will. Help us to submit to that wisdom, and not the pragmatic wisdom of the world. Amen.