Always Abounding
The Resurrection changes everything. Especially our work ethic. Paul concludes the best exposition of the truth of the Resurrection with this verse:
1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
There comes a time in life when we have to let it all go. How are you going to handle that? If you believe on Christ for your redemption and future resurrection, then you know what you have done with your life matters for eternity. There is a reward and a purpose behind everything you do for Him.
If on the other hand you live as though this life is the end, what difference does it all make? You could live like Solomon with all his wisdom, wealth and fame who looked back on life and called it vanity. A big waste of time. Everything gets old after a while. Even what you think you desperately need to be happy will eventually let you down. Only the work of the Lord matters for eternity.
How do you keep yourself abounding in the work of the Lord? You focus on the resurrection. You remember that eternity isn't a joke and this life counts toward the next.
This chapter also includes one of the most used and least understood in context passages in the Bible...
1 Corinthians 15:33 (ESV) Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
We apply this to our lives too often to non-believers. While that can be an appropriate application, Paul is using to apply to those who call themselves believers but disbelieve in the bodily resurrection. Evidently, the point is being made - some people in the church will claim to believe in Jesus but live like there's no accounting. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Your work matters. It makes a profound difference in eternity. Jesus said in Luke 16:9 (ESV) And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
What you have now is a tool to bring people to heaven. It is an opportunity to invest in your afterlife for this world is not the end. Never let someone else make you live any differently.
PRAYER:
Father, keep me focused on the life to come. To remember that my life is temporary here and while on Earth, I must use what you have entrusted to me to make an eternal difference in the lives of those around me. Keep me abounding in the work You have for me. Amen.
1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
There comes a time in life when we have to let it all go. How are you going to handle that? If you believe on Christ for your redemption and future resurrection, then you know what you have done with your life matters for eternity. There is a reward and a purpose behind everything you do for Him.
If on the other hand you live as though this life is the end, what difference does it all make? You could live like Solomon with all his wisdom, wealth and fame who looked back on life and called it vanity. A big waste of time. Everything gets old after a while. Even what you think you desperately need to be happy will eventually let you down. Only the work of the Lord matters for eternity.
How do you keep yourself abounding in the work of the Lord? You focus on the resurrection. You remember that eternity isn't a joke and this life counts toward the next.
This chapter also includes one of the most used and least understood in context passages in the Bible...
1 Corinthians 15:33 (ESV) Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”
We apply this to our lives too often to non-believers. While that can be an appropriate application, Paul is using to apply to those who call themselves believers but disbelieve in the bodily resurrection. Evidently, the point is being made - some people in the church will claim to believe in Jesus but live like there's no accounting. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Your work matters. It makes a profound difference in eternity. Jesus said in Luke 16:9 (ESV) And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
What you have now is a tool to bring people to heaven. It is an opportunity to invest in your afterlife for this world is not the end. Never let someone else make you live any differently.
PRAYER:
Father, keep me focused on the life to come. To remember that my life is temporary here and while on Earth, I must use what you have entrusted to me to make an eternal difference in the lives of those around me. Keep me abounding in the work You have for me. Amen.
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