Blessed God of new days and new starts, bless and proect the life of this dear reader in whatever may come their way; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from 1 Corinthians 9: 16 If I proclaim the Message, it's not to get something out of it for myself. I'm compelled to do it, and doomed if I don't! 17 If this was my own idea of just another way to make a living, I'd expect some pay. But since it's not my idea but something solemnly entrusted to me, why would I expect to get paid? 18 So am I getting anything out of it? Yes, as a matter of fact: the pleasure of proclaiming the Message at no cost to you. You don't even have to pay my expenses! 19 Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: 20 religious, nonreligious, 21 meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, 22 the defeated, the demoralized - whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ - but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. 23 I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it! (The Message)
The life and ministry of the Apostle Paul came as a sort of course correction in the evangelization of the world. Paul's life was not God's Plan B, it was more of God's A1. Okay, now you're thinking steak sauce, which is not a bad thing, but it's early in the day (at least for me). In Paul, God saw and called forth a passionate person with a determination and commitment that God needed. Think on why you're a believer at this point of your life. What did God see in you? In Paul, God saw someone who would stay on task and complete the task the best he could. God saw a man who would use both head and heart to not only accept the Gospel (Called the "Message" thus this version's name), but also to proclaim it AND live it. Remember the pre-Jesus Saul? He was a go-getter and did he ever go and get and arrest followers of Jesus. Saul was a very well connected person who was able to secure the rights to arrest the Christians in Damascus, and it was on that road that God called him through the Risen Christ.
How did God call you to faith? Through your parents? If so, have you realized what your parents saw and believed in Jesus? If it was through a friend or spouse, the same question; have you found that same faith as this important person? If you have come to faith as one who believes and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, have you gotten into a life that is the Gospel? By that, we mean as one who fully understands it, shares it, and seeks to make his/her life a witness of the better way to live. In Paul's words of today, he didn't settle for being an armchair quarterback, he wanted to be the quarterback. He didn't want to reflect and critique Sunday's sermon on Monday; he wanted to preach and live his own. He didn't stop at only those people who were like him, he wanted to know that all people, as Jesus had directed him, had truly come to accept Jesus for themselves. Are you in on it? If you're not, you're missing out. Get going!
PRAYER: Loving God, I don't want to miss out! I want to be in on it. I want to be a part of whatever it takes to help the whole world come to know Your love and grace through Jesus Christ. Help me be a part of it in however I can best help. I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed dayin the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
