Seek the Good of Others {1 Corinthians 10}
8:00 AM
Hallelujah,
Jesus Christ has risen! So much to be
thankful for, in my opinion. I know that
Jesus lives and I have freedom – freedom to choose how I use that freedom.
I
had been writing my posts a few weeks in advance since the beginning of the
year. Since I’ve been working from home
during this pandemic, I’ve changed my pattern.
I’ve
learned a lot about myself during these three and a half weeks. I enjoy being home. There’s a lot of freedom being here. I get to wear whatever I want all day
long. I get to cook dinner every night
far earlier than I ever have been able.
I can even bake while I’m at work!
I get to take walks around my yard and do some light yard work. But the President of the United States and
our governor has said to stay home. Stay
home – except for essential activities.
Essential activities are getting food – that you need to eat now, and
personal care items. Getting gasoline
for our vehicles. Getting necessary
prescriptions filled. We are encouraged
to take a walk/exercise.
What
we cannot do or should not do, is go to the store to wander. Park in our friends and/or family’s driveways
to chat. Fill the parks with vehicles
and people.
1
Corinthians 10:23, Paul tells us that we are free, but that does not give us an
excuse to do whatever we want. God did
not make us free so that we can act in a wicked way and we should not allow our
emotions to control our lives. People who
do this are not free – they are slaves to their emotions.
The
question we must ask ourselves is if we are behaving in a helpful manner. We need to think about the results of our
actions. Yes, we can do whatever we
want, but not every action will help people to trust God. Some of our actions can ruin other people’s
confidence in God.
Christians
should always use their freedom to serve God.
God wants to guide and direct our lives.
He can show us what we should do.
If we obey Him, our actions will be good, useful and helpful. And then we will achieve the results God
wants in our lives.
How
does our attitude toward other people affect this freedom? God did not save us merely for our own
benefit. He wants to use our lives to
help other people.
We
should not be selfish. We should not
care too much about our own desires. We
must not allow our emotions to rule our lives.
It
truly is much more important for Christians to think about other people. They must think about how they can bring God’s
good news to other people. They must
think about how they can help other people to trust God. They must think about how, like Christ, they
too can show God’s kindness to other people.
When
we think about other people, we will not feel such a strong desire to please
ourselves. In this time of either a shut
down, or stay at home order, may we remember that this is an act of
charity. We are called to serve one another. We view life as sacred.
There’s
a comic out there that I could not find, but it goes like this, “Hey Debbie. It’s me the Lord. Listen, you need to stop telling Facebook
that your health is in my hands. You are
going to have to wash your hands and quarantine with everyone else. Ok?”
I
cannot help but think if our Lord would have walked away from His
obligation. Where would our freedom be?
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