Reading your Bible for Today July 9

July 9: 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 

KJV Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 8:3
3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Devotion:
How many times have you been caught between going to church or going to a party? Or maybe it was just the invitation to a party you knew would be a riot, but you also knew the people organising the party were against Christianity. Should you go or should you stay? If you just thought about yourself, then you probably would go – because you think you are strong enough to avoid any dangers you may encounter. If you thought about God and asked Him to protect you – you probably would still go. If you thought about your friends organising the party – you probably would go to make them happy. Our view on things changes according to what we think of at the time and what we apply in our lives at the time.

Just because we have knowledge of the Bible, knowledge of what God has laid out for us, knowledge of what your friends get up to; does not mean you are listening to the knowledge which Christ is handing out to you! When we do learn things, we tend to rely on that knowledge rather than applying it. In our simple example, we know Christ will protect us, but we are not thinking of what our action will do to Christ.

If you were invited to a friend’s house for a meal, you would not take your own food to eat. That would upset your friend (or at least whoever cooked the meal). Likewise, if you organised to stay with your friend one day, you would not make plans to go somewhere else for that day; because you have a certain amount of love for your friend.

It takes but a few seconds to think about making plans to go and have fun. It takes a few more seconds to think about just who you would affect by carrying out those plans. It takes a few more seconds to think about how you would affect those people. Love may not be as quick to react as our head knowledge, but the impact on love is far greater than any head knowledge we may have. God knows each one of us who love Him. He continues to show us His love. He does expect us to return that love in sincerity.

Points to Ponder:
How often do you upset your close friends?

How often do you let God down?