Reading your Bible for today June 16

June 16: 1 Corinthians 8:4-9

KJV Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 8:7
7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

Devotion:
There are many ways in which we show our reverence to God. Just because we are following His laws and doing His work, does not mean we are any better than others who are not carrying out His work. God looks upon us as we are. He does not judge us by what work we are doing or by how much we do get around to doing; instead, He judges us by how we face Him and fear Him. He is the one true God and He looks within our hearts to know what sort of people we are. We cannot fool Him by doing extraordinary work to try and appease Him.

There are many who will do extraordinary amounts of work to try and appease their own gods (albeit false gods). They will go out of their way to do things to try and get in their god's good book. They get to such a point where they are convinced their god is real and they make offerings to them as well as do works for them. We have to be very wary of being tied to such people for two reasons. Firstly, we should not be persuaded by the works they do as to the validity of worshipping their god. But secondly, others around us must not be persuaded away from our God by seeing us doing stuff which can be seen as supporting other gods.

Peer pressure is something we always seem to underestimate. Allowing others to see us doing something that we ought not to be doing may well weaken their resolve and allow them to think they can go off and do those things as well. We have to be sound in our conscience and to follow God's will so others will be encouraged to do the same thing. Whatever we do should be to His glory and not our own.

Points to Ponder:
How often are you persuaded by others to do things you know are not right?

How often do you call upon God for extra support to get through tough times?