Deterrents from Evil

The People of God Set Priorities
Living as a Community of Believers
Overcoming Temptation

1 Corinthians 10:1-10  The Message

10 ^1-5 Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

^6-10 The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.

For Reflection

Faith is a gift from God.  Religion is made for the convenience of human kind.  We often confuse the two by thinking that they are one and the same.  How many religious deviations from the faith have distorted the Christianity?  We all can name several.  But God-centered faith, and Christianity have survived because God has turned us away from the corruption of faith and offered unconditional love and reconciliation.  Praise God for God's abiding faith in human kind and God's eternal invitation to the Kingdom.

Pray

Prayers of thanksgiving for the faith God has invited us to enjoy.  Praise God for steadfast love and grace.  Pray that you will be an obedient servant of God.