READING: Psalm 119:1-84, 1 Corinthians 11:27-12:11
Yesterday, most of us gathered with our local congregations. Each time I do that, I’m amazed by the reality of the church. To be honest, some church folks occasionally drive me crazy—but there’s still something unique and mysterious and wonderful about God’s people. Somehow, God brings together people of different ethnicities, different histories, different economic and educational levels, different professions, and different preferences, and He miraculously makes us one.
Moreover, He gifts each member of the body and uses each of us as He wishes. The apostle Paul put it this way, as he wrote to the Corinthians quarreling over who had the greatest gifts: “And there are different activities, but the same God produces each gift in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. . . . One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills” (1 Cor 12:6-7, 11). The trinitarian God (“one Spirit, one Lord, one God”) places each of us in His church, gifts us with talents and abilities—and He does it all with perfection. That means that every one of us truly matters in His kingdom. God knows exactly what we need to be and what His church needs.
This simple truth today ought to make us not proud as we consider our roles and giftedness, but deeply grateful and humble. God uses us—and that’s hard to believe!
PRAYER: “God, thank You for letting me be part of Your body.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Psalm 119:85-176, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31