Weariness has not left my body or mind from this past weekend’s events. Father, I ask that You enable me to focus on You and avoid distractions that would pull me from You. Amen.
1 Corinthians 15:35-58 (<<click here to read the passage)
We visited Karen’s mom yesterday. She lives in a memory care facility not far from us. We usually visit in her room, but she was already in the common area (an area for meals and interaction), so we sat at a table there.
That table held sprouting seeds from a project they did on March 4th, planting tomatoes and marigolds. (Her mom enjoyed picking fresh cherry tomatoes from planters around the enclosed walking area last year!) Well, we’re about two weeks out from their planting, and the tomatoes, at least, were sprouting nicely. I’m sure the residents are eagerly anticipating this year’s harvest.
One thing consistent with plants that I am familiar with is that seeds look nothing like the fruit they bear. The picture above is of tomato seeds. Unless you know your seeds well, you’d be hard-pressed to know you’d get tomatoes by planting them.
In today’s passage, Paul speaks of seeds. Our bodies will die; that’s just the way it is. There is no way out for us. At the end of verse 36, he states,
When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. NLT
I find verses 42-44a very encouraging, especially with more and more people dealing with cancer, illness, and heart disease. Our churches’ prayer lists are overflowing, and there are so many obituaries. But read these words,
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. The [human] body that is sown is perishable and mortal, it is raised imperishable and immortal. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; it is sown a natural body [mortal, suited to earth], it is raised a spiritual body [immortal, suited to heaven]. AMP
As much as we cling to this earthly life, it is not the end-all many hold it to be. There is much more in store for those who love the Lord!
And the greatest news of all?
So it is written [in Scripture], “The first man, Adam, became a living soul (an individual);” the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit [restoring the dead to life]. v45 AMP
And this, too!
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven]. v49 AMP
The Word speaks much better than I ever could!
Listen very carefully, I tell you a mystery [a secret truth decreed by God and previously hidden, but now revealed]; we will not all sleep [in death], but we will all be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed], in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [the sound of] the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [who believed in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we will be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed]. For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death]. And when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the Scripture will be fulfilled that says, “Death is swallowed up in victory (vanquished forever). O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin [by which it brings death] is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory [as conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose]. v51-58 AMP
Mar 18th, 2024, Mon, 12:50 pm
