Read Reflect Are you directionally challenged? Someone in my family once took five hours to drive to the airport – usually a two-hour trip! After that incident, I managed to persuade the family member to buy a GPS! While a GPS device helps the directionally challenged get from point A to point B, it can’t […]

Paul is still thinking of those Corinthians – so proud of

their rights as Christians,
their superiority over lesser mortals,
their freedom to do as they pleased.

Don’t be too confident! Paul was concerned about the self-satisfied way the Corinthians talked. He saw real danger that they might fall into serious sins because of it (v 12). So he gave an Old Testament example as a warning, reminding them of the Israelites in Moses’ day.

Read Reflect Self-confident Christians think they can wander close to temptation. This is fine, until the day they get their fingers burned – or worse. Asked how close he could drive to a precipice without going over the edge, a bus driver is said to have replied, “As far away as I can get!” Wise […]

Read Reflect “Eat!” (v 25). Some Christians have such desperately sensitive consciences that they don’t seem able to do anything without long heart searchings about it. Their consciences become utter tyrants. Paul says, “If you want to buy food in the market, don’t ask a lot of questions about where it came from. Buy it, […]

The psalmist makes a few interesting comparisons in this passage, and they’re worth paying attention to. First, he mentions the silent influence of the sun and moon, how they are able to cause change and exercise power without uttering a single word.

Read Reflect In reading the description of the above people and their actions, what strikes us first of all is the fact that these situations are in no way normal. Yet, they call to mind situations that we may have noticed around us. The slave who becomes a king could possibly be a co-worker, a […]