With all the pressure of so many things to get done, Father, I am grateful for Your grounded presence in my life. Where things could become overwhelming, You provide a solid base upon which to stand and to continue building my life. Praise Your Holy Name!
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (<<click here to read the passage)
“Thinkers” in this world think they have it all together and that they have all the answers. Even those who hold themselves to be “thinkers” but are more so “thinkers-on-the-side”, hold the same thoughts. It seems to me at least that a lot of people think they know stuff but in reality, are just rehashing what they have been told by someone along the way. They just think and repeat, and never really ponder and think through.
A good friend, following yesterday’s post, asked what the Apostle Paul meant by “foolish preaching” in verse 21. Here’s the verse.

Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. NLT

I needed to look at it, think about it, ponder it – and thinking it through, here is my answer.
First, I want to repeat a passage I shared a couple of days ago. The Lord says in Isaiah 55:8-9,

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
….neither are your ways my ways,”
……..declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
….so are my ways higher than your ways
….and my thoughts than your thoughts. NIV

Too many of us think that we are right and everybody else is wrong. A great many hold thoughts on most biblical things to be foolish.
When Jesus came onto the scene, many held the Good News to be foolish because they thought the Messiah would be a conquering king accompanied by signs and miracles. He wasn’t the Messiah that they thought He should have been. And he was executed as a criminal… How could a criminal be a savior?
Greeks put Jesus and the Good News in the foolish category, as well. They didn’t believe in a bodily resurrection, and no reputable person would be crucified. To them, death was defeat, not victory.
Yet today foolish is the label placed by many on Jesus and the Good News. Our society worships power, influence, and wealth. Jesus came as a humble, poor servant, and he offers his Kingdom to those who have faith, not to those who do all kinds of good deeds to try to earn salvation.
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. God turns our “wisdom” on its ear. What the world deems as foolishness, is true wisdom. And our foolish preaching has been used to save those who believe.
Death seems to be the end of the road, the ultimate weakness. But death is not the end. Because Jesus’ resurrection is only the beginning!

*Life Application Study Bible

Sept 28th, 2023, Thurs, 12:59 pm