JUNE 10, 2015
The Unlikely
God
has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are
mighty. —1 Corinthians 1:27
Read:
1
Corinthians 1:25-31
Fanny Kemble was a British
actress who moved to America in the early 1800s and married a southern
plantation owner named Pierce Butler. Fanny enjoyed the life afforded by the
wealth of the plantation, until she saw the cost of that luxury—a cost paid by
the slaves who worked her husband’s plantations.
Having
written a memoir of the cruel treatment slaves often suffered, Kemble was
eventually divorced from her husband. Her writings were widely circulated among
abolitionists and published in 1863 as Journal of a Residence on a Georgian
Plantation in 1838–1839. Because of her opposition to slavery, the former wife
of a slave owner became known as “The Unlikely Abolitionist.”
In
the body of Christ, God often wonderfully surprises us. He regularly uses the
unlikely—people and circumstances—to accomplish His purposes. Paul wrote, “But
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and
God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which
are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised
God has chosen” (1 Cor. 1:27-28).
This
reminds us that God, in His grace, can use anyone. If we will allow His work to
be done in us, we might be surprised at what He can do through us!
How
will you let God use you today?
God
desires willing hearts ready to be used.
INSIGHT:
Paul started the Corinthian church during his
second missionary journey (AD 50, Acts 18:1-18). After staying for another 18
months (v. 11), Paul left Apollos to continue the work (Acts 18:27–19:1; 1 Cor.
3:6). Peter may have been in Corinth too (1 Cor. 1:12). Four years later (AD
56), while in Ephesus on his third missionary journey, Paul received two
disturbing reports of divisions, disorders, difficulties, and denial of the
resurrection in the church (1:10-11; 11:18-22). Paul wrote this letter to
address those problems.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2015
