– Die To Self Daily To Be God-Dependent
BRD REFLECTIONS:
1 Corinthians 3 and Psalm 127 (NIV)
(Christina Stanley, Core Leadership Team )
READ:
1 Corinthians 3 and Psalm 127 (NIV)
How well God, our Creator and Heavenly Father knows us. And always – better than we know ourselves!
We are indeed “people of the flesh” (1 Cor 3:1), we behave only in a “human way” (v3). He considers us as infants, as He feeds us with milk, not solid food (v2). He knows that we often think we can be “wise”, but the wisdom of this world is folly with God (v19).
As we grow, we have a choice of foundation. We can lay a foundation built of gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw (v12), but these materials will not survive fire, crisis and calamity.
Or we can choose to lay the foundation in Jesus Christ, our solid rock (Matthew 7:24-27) who will stand up to the storms of life.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain…” in Psalm 127:1 further affirms this.
We are entirely dependent on God. For our physical, emotional, and spiritual growth as God’s holy temple, through the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
How else can we be God’s fellow workers, His field and building?
OBSERVE:
The Lord is calling us to be God-dependent.
Our human-ness often lands us in trouble. We try to retain control and take charge of our lives; we strive to achieve great things by our strength; we consider ourselves “wise”, but in fact God sees it as folly. “He catches the wise in their craftiness … The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” (vv19-20)
Both Paul, the writer of Corinthians, and King Solomon, the writer of Psalm 127 point us back to God. The verses are timely reminders that we are “people of the flesh” (1 Cor 3:1) “merely humans” (v4), with all shortfalls, vanities, hypocrisies, self-deceptions, craftiness, and futile wisdom.
APPLY:
We have free will to choose to rely on God.
Doing this is often very difficult, and painful. It requires yielding, submitting, giving up our self-centric needs. It requires dying to self every day – because being self-centric is such a subtle and insidious trap.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed and agonized on what He knew would come – arrest, torture, trial and execution. He said to His Heavenly Father: “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Our discipleship journey can only start when we submit to the Master.
DO:
To lead my daily life in a God-centric, and God-honouring way, I believe I need to remain in the Master’s hands. I am the clay, and He is the potter (Jeremiah 18:1-6). Even after He has moulded me into an instrument of His choosing, I cannot be effective. God can only use me as His instrument as long as I remain in His hand, for Him to hone and use me for His purposes.
PRAY:
Lord, forgive me for thinking that I can do it on my own. Forgive me for looking to my own abilities rather than relying on You completely. Build my faith, Lord; teach me to yield; enable me to die daily to self, so that You take over. Come Holy Spirit, Come, and Do Your Work in Me, today, and every day of my life from here onwards. Amen.
