Day 225 Bible Readings – 1 Corinthians 8: 12 (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 10-12, 1 Corinthians 7: 36-40, 1 Corinthians 8, Psalm 119: 49-56

1 Corinthians 8: 12 (ESV)

“Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.”

Verse 12 from 1 Corinthians 8 shows Paul’s advice to the Church of Corinth to treat other people in the church well. If we commit sins against other people because their faith or their conscience is weak, we are sinning against Christ. We cannot encourage other people to sin even though their faith is weak. I like Paul’s advice here because it reinforces that we need to treat each other with kindness, and that God will judge us for how we treat other people even those who are not of the faith. We must always be kind to everyone no matter what their faith, and not encourage them to sin against God just because they are not of the faith.

Day 224 Bible Readings – 1 Corinthians 7: 17 (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 7-9, 1 Corinthians 7: 17-35, Psalm 119: 41-48

1 Corinthians 7: 17 (ESV)

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.”

Verse 17 from 1 Corinthians 7 is Paul’s advice to church in Corinth that no matter what your status is in life, God has assigned that life to you and you have a role in God’s plan. God is all powerful and will use each person who has faith in him to further his plans on earth. Bible commentaries written that Paul meant that a church goer does not have change their life to be useful to God. You can live that life that God has given you because all things come from God. Also implicit in this advice is to not compare yourself to others or think that other people have it better than you do. Each person has their own journey with God. They have their own lessons to learn no matter what their status is in the world. I think this is good advice because I know for myself that I sometimes see other people in church and envy their life. But I have also met people who look at me and when I’ve gotten to know them, told me they envy my life. We all think the other person has it better than we do. But everyone has lessons. What might be hard for me, will be easy for someone else. What will be easy for me, might be impossible for someone else. As a person with faith in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, we only need to be concerned with how God views and judges us and not with anyone else.

Day 223 Bible Readings – Ecclesiastes 5: 15 (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 4-6, 1 Corinthians 7: 1-16, Psalm 119: 33-40

Ecclesiastes 5: 15 (ESV)

“As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.”

Verse 15 from Ecclesiastes 5 stood out to me in my readings. King Solomon was writing in this section about wealth. Verse 5 has been bandied about in so many ways, but I believe it basically means that we come into the world with nothing and when we die, we leave with nothing. Verse 5 makes you think about the striving one does for wealth in our lives. Not that there is nothing wrong with wealth because you need riches to live in this world. And having lots of money to buy things and live comfortably is most of the time better than not having money at all. But in my experience having no money or a ton of money doesn’t bring you peace or leave you free of worry. When I didn’t have any money, I was worried about not having enough of it. When I finally got to a point where I thought I was making enough money to live comfortably, I then became worried about having the right things like the right investment vehicles for my money. The worries and lack of peace never went with my increase in wealth. The only thing that has brought peace and has lessened the worry in my life is deepening my relationship with Christ by reading the Bible every day and listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in my life.

Day 222 Bible Readings – 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 (ESV)

Ecclesiastes 1-3, 1 Corinthians 6, Psalm 119: 25-32

1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 (ESV)

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Verses 19 and 20 from 1 Corinthians 6 shows Paul reminding us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirt, and comes from God. Paul also reminds us that because our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, this means our body belongs to God and not to us. Since our body belongs to God and is a temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in, we need to treat our body with respect and take care of it. I think a helpful analogy would be to treat your body how you would treat your Bible. You take of your Bible and make sure it does not get damaged. We need to treat our bodies in the same or better. Thinking that the Holy Spirit dwells within us make us pause and think about we’re doing and ask ourselves, does what I’m about to damage my temple in any way. A friend from a long time ago once told me that I need pause before any action I take and ask myself, if Jesus were in the room would I still be doing the action? I didn’t always follow that advice, but now it makes so much sense to me. Would you be proud of any action you take if God was watching you? If you can’t answer an immediate Yes, then you probably need to think before you take that action.