Week 19 Day 5
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Finding God in the Mysteries of every day
2 Corinthians 6: 3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
The idea of purity as in context here is so foreign to the mainstreams of modern thought as to render the word at the very least archaic if not anachronistic. We talk today more about tolerance and acceptance than we do about eschewing the sinful behavior of the world around us.
Paul the Apostle managed to find a path that cut right through the heart of his times. His legacy of epistles stands today as a memoriam to purity in Christ. Empowered by the Holy Spirit he endured all of the worst that the world of his day could throw at him and yet he remained pure in his heart, in his love for other people, and in his teaching about the Christ he served and adored.
Every day of his life Paul was ready, come what may, to be the perfect witness to the grace and love, forgiveness and restoration of Jesus the Savior. No matter the opposition, no matter the danger, no matter the hardship. Can any of us say as much? How long does our zeal last? How many years can we continue in the face of the indifference and hatred of the world? How indeed will our service before Christ be measured in the end?
As far as I can tell the only criterion is obedience. If we have done the things Christ has told us to do we will store up treasures in heaven. The outcome is not what we are responsible for. If that is all we are focused on then we have missed entirely the point of living for Christ.
Larry M Lawrence- Mysteries 