1 Corinthians 3:21-23 -- Open Sight

 

1 Corinthians 3:21-23

 

NKJV

Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

 

NLT

So don’t boast about following a particular human leader. For everything belongs to you—whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

 

“Paul has just pointed out that some human efforts won’t stand the fires of God’s judgement (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).  Scripture also clearly warns of the dangers of false teachers (Galatians 1:8-9, 2 Peter 2:1).  But when teachers of truth differ only in name, or style, or emphasis, it’s counter productive to bicker about which one deserves more loyalty.”  ~ bibleref.net

 

When I worked for a cutting horse place, we had some pretty famous people that came to the shows.  Some of the others that I worked with were a bit awestruck.  Maybe, at a certain level I was too.   But the one thing I remember most about those famous people was how poorly they rode their horses.  This wasn’t what they did for a living, so I believe they put minimal effort into knowing how to do it right.

 

I think there are a couple things to learn here. 

 

First, in my book anyway, how much effort do we put into our walk with Christ?  Are we relying on our pastors to “feed us” on Sunday and then we don’t think about Christ again until the next Sunday?  The verses today say that “everything belongs to you”, meaning that once we accept Christ; everything we need to learn about the bible is ours.  Everything is ours because Christ is in us, we have the freedom to learn; the freedom to overcome what the world throws at us.  We are not slaves to our flesh!

 

Secondly, and this ties right into it, let’s not glory in men.  Not even in Godly men, because they’re just men and they will fail us.  Only God cannot fail.  Are we more excited about being with the influential and famous of this world than about being with God?  Our answer to this question should bring us to our knees.  If we answer yes, then we should hit our knees and put Christ first in our lives.  If the answer is no, then we need to hit our knees and thank God for His presence and His leading.

 

Can you accept the freedom that living in Christ brings?

 

Seeing with open sites,

cej

1 Corinthians 3:19-20 -- Not That Smart

 

1 Corinthians 3:19-20

 

NKJV

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”

 

NLT

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.” (Job 5:13) And again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.” (Psalms 94:11)

 

How often do we think we are the smartest guy in the room?  For me, more often than I care to admit on certain subjects.  At the times I open my mouth to prove just how smart I am; invariably there is someone else there that is a whole lot smarter than me…it ends up being a “open mouth, insert foot” kinda moment.  I hate the taste of foot!  It reminds me of that old saying, “better to be thought a fool, than to open your mouth a prove it”

 

I wonder if we can admit how often we think that our wisdom is greater than God’s? Because, you know, God doesn’t have all the details.  I believe our situations would improve immensely if we spent more time leaning into Godly wisdom and less time leaning into our own understanding.  Wisdom from the world has limits; it is limited by what man already knows.  I know that my wisdom has limits.

 

Let’s lean into God’s wisdom, because to be honest…we ain’t that smart!

 

Not that smart,

cej