Saturday 12 May 2018

May 12: 1 Corinthians 9:7-12

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 9:12
If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

Devotion:
I recently came up against people demanding what they thought was their right to things which I had to question in my own mind and heart as to whether they were demanding the right things. But the more I read up on things, the more I realise how much the bible teaches us on both sides of the argument. Yes we do have the right to many things, and certainly to some things we don’t realise!

God wanted the people who were doing the work to have some recompense from the work they were involved in – just as He wanted animals to have recompense for the work they do. Life has got to be fair about things and that is where much of society seems to go wrong. If we have the ability to love and support those around us, then we ought to do that without question – this is what God wants.

If people are willing to do something, they should get recognition for what they are doing. It does not necessarily follow they have to be rewarded for everything they do, but life should be fair – we have the ability to ensure it is.

Does this mean we should be going out of our way to demand recompense for everything we do? No! Far from it. God wants us to be able to do things for people because we want to and not because we can get something out of it. The apostles went round doing a lot of gospel work without asking for support. People were willing to give them support in most cases, but they did not demand it. We should be doing likewise in our lives – being willing to share what we have and not expect everyone to share everything they have in return.

Points to Ponder:
Do you only work for money?

Does Christ demand your life just because He gave His?