Have you ever. . . ? 1 Corinthians 4.14-21
2/15/2010 12:01:22 AM
1 Corinthians #17 in series


 

 

Have you ever….?  Then you’ll understand          1 Corinthians 4.14-21

Good Day. 

Have you ever birthed a child?  Whether you carried the baby in your womb, and gave it life, or were the other contributing half--  You know…have you been there?  Then you know there is nothing in all of life that compares to giving life.

Have you ever led someone in the ‘prayer of salvation,’ which breathes new spiritual life into a human soul?  Have you been there? 

On a smaller scale, have you ever planted a bare root rose, and see it leaf out, with tiny buds forming, until finally a lovely rose is unveiled?  Or planted a narcissus bulb, only to see it burst forth through the hard ground, sending lovely shoots in the air until delicate, fragrant white blossoms appear?  Or have you hoed rough, rocky ground, amending it with Kellogg fertilizer, until you had just the right soil conditions to receive your young tomato plants…then watered and tended and kept the ugly green worms away from destroying your bounty?

Then you know something of the heart of the apostle Paul as he communicates to the Corinthians believers.  From “The Message”, take a look at 1 Corinthians 4.14-21:

   “I’m not writing all of this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten.  I’m writing as a father to you, my children.  I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled.  There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up.  It was a Jesus helped me proclaim God’s message to you that I became your father.  I’m not, you know, asking you to do anything that I am not already doing myself.

    This is why I sent Timothy to you earlier.  He is also my dear son, and true to the Master.  He will refresh your memory on all of the instructions I regularly give all the churches on the way of Christ. 

    I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me.  They don’t think I’ll ever show up in person.  But I’ll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we’ll see if they are full of anything but hot air.  God’s way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life. 

    So how should I prepare to come to you?  As a severe disciplinarian who makes you toe the mark?  Or as a good friend and counselor who wants to share heart-to-heart with you?  You decide.”

And again I say, ‘don’t you just love Paul?’  He was not a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy, now was he?  He surely loved the diverse lot he had met in the metropolitan city of Corinth to the Lord, but he would never just leave them there without further training and love.  Ah,

may God foster such a deep love for himself within our hearts

that we would have spiritual offspring to nurture and grow up in him!

Have you experienced the joy of spawning new believers in God?  Ask the Life-Giver to grant you that opportunity.

Yesterday, I was leading my Long Beach street people in prayer, (I’m guessing there were about a hundred of us), and I felt the Spirit nudge me to offer them the prayer of belief . . . after all, these folks are on the street all night, in a rough inner city in Los Angeles County!  I told them, ‘some of you will never be here again for whatever reason,’ don’t miss the opportunity to let Jesus wash you white as snow and then lead you.  I looked long in some of their dirty, unshaven faces and into hollow eyes, and even now, I plead for their souls.   ‘Very different from looking into the pretty fresh-scrubbed faces of Bible study women, but really—souls are all the same.  God desires relationship with all of them. 

‘Brought to mind a song I loved from the 70s, “May I Introduce you to a Friend?”  from the first Christian LP I ever owned, by Jamie Owens.  I located it for us; just click on the little strip, and then on the arrow to listen.  May it be the prayer of our hearts to those we know who are far from God, or may have lost their way.

May the Lord burn a passion for lost souls deep into your hearts today,

Christine