The Devotional - 1047 - Foot Steps in First Corinthians, ongoing

The Devotional – 1047 – Foot steps in First Corinthians, ongoing

When was the last time you fled from something you thought was an idol? Most of us, if not all of us live and work in the midst of idolatrous people daily and fail to notice. It is true that if you do not notice it than there is no need to flee. But what about something that we do notice? Usually I notice things that attract my attention and these events are not alarming to me and neither are they alarming to you. We notice them because we our self may be bent in that sort of idolatry too! There are two significant types of idolatry and in the section of scripture below; Paul will discuss the first most lethal form of idolatry. This is the personal desire of the flesh, the sort that seeks to anchor itself in our heart and destroy our walk with the LORD. 

CHALLENGES & COMMENTS – 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

It would be good to identify these forms of idolatry that the apostle commands us to flee from, he also says that he is speaking to the wise and also to judge for one’s self if the things spoken are true or false. First let’s look at the mind bent on idol worship. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – the strongholds listed in this section are the sins of the unbelieving. This discussion of idolatry with the Corinthians began in chapter 8:1 and he will conclude the discussion in 1 Corinthians 11:1.

Verse 11 of 1 Corinthians 6 reads – “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the LORD Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Idolatry begins in the soul of the saint of God when the sanctified begins to draw from his or her past the things done as an unbeliever. These sins of the past can become a form of idolatrous worship in the heart.

Is this serious? It may not seem serious since we can justify most all of what we do daily. One justifying thought is that; Well! I only think or dream of these past sins, I don’t really do them. Solomon speaking on the subject of idolatry says (Proverbs 23; 6-7). The miser here refers to one who has an evil eye. Idolatry is THEE evil eye of “loss of soul contact with God” or better known as perdition. So the apostle points out that in our communion services we partake with other brothers and sisters in the LORD. It is a time of blessing and sacrifice involving the VERY day remembering when Jesus was sacrificed for the sin of the world. 

If our idolatrous mind is at work during these moments (and sometimes we are thus minded) then what is going on at other moments of church fellowships? The sharing that goes on in church services and ministries ought to be from the Spiritual platform that even though we are many, we are to remain as ONE BODY, why? Because we all are partakers of the CUP of Blessing and the BREAD in remembrance of the body of Christ which was sacrificed for our sin.

I believe there is a shifting of thought here by the apostle since he has shifted the normal process of this ordinance, being that we normally partake of the bread first and the cup last. Then he shifts his thought to Israel and when he says to look to Israel and the altar of sacrifice and the meal that took place after the sacrifice, these were allowed to share the meal together. 

So what is the concluding point? Idolatry begins in the mind and grows to the point of exposing the heart of mankind. The revealed will of man always shows up in what he or she idols. Man’s heart loves to worship and because he or she is a sinful being that worship can lead to visible forms of idolatry. In our church services we cannot drink the up of the LORD and eat of the table of sacrifice and say we have done nothing wrong if we are eating the bread of a miser; we provoke the LORD to jealousy.