December 13, 2022
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:9 – “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
What it means
This is really good news for all of us who follow Jesus, as laid out by the apostle Paul. There is much to be encouraged by if we back up a few verses, starting with verse 5…“you have been enriched in every way”, “you do not lack any spiritual gift”, “He will also keep you firm to the end”. All very good, but we can wrap it all up very neatly with a bow with the first part of verse 9: “God is faithful.” When we get down to the nitty gritty here, can we ultimately trust who we are choosing to put our faith in? Can we rely on God? The answer, according to Paul, is clearly YES! Also, one more item of significant note, is that we have been called into a relationship and fellowship with God’s Son, Jesus. It’s no accident that we have made a conscious decision to follow Christ – we have been called into this love relationship. We may think it was all our idea, and yes, we did choose The Lord, but He chose us first…and He would choose us all over again if He had to.
What it means to me
I briefly flashed back to my childhood days when we chose teams for a basketball game, football, baseball…whatever the sport of that particular season happened to be. Jan has lamented that she was often amongst the last chosen to participate back in her childhood, which saddens me greatly, but I guess it happens to many of us. We’re just not among the athletically gifted, so we are drafted towards the bitter end and stuck in right field where nobody usually hits the ball. But…it’s not that way with The Lord. He has chosen all of us equally – we’re all first round draft picks! He eagerly looks out and says “I choose you! I am calling you to be on my team! Come on over here…my star player! 😊” Let’s celebrate today – God is faithful, and He has called and chosen each one of us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven – Amen!
Love you guys, talk to you on Thursday!
In Christ,
Brian