Tuesday - March 12, 2024

SCRIPTURE

1 Corinthians 10.6-33

Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.’ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing God will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

WORDS OF HOPE

This passage deals with the idea of God testing us and our ability to endure. In this day and age, we sometimes think of tests and think of the academic setting where we all had regular tests and a final exam. No doubt we all remember those good test days and those bad test days.

There was always that test that came up on a day when you had a headache or weren’t feeling up to snuff. Even if we had well prepared, something stood in the way of success. We might make it through the day-to-day homework and pop quizzes, and classroom questions and then fall flat on the final exam; often for reasons beyond our control. And some of us are just not good test takers, and some of us are.

When I was a student, I personally liked tests. I liked the challenge of proving myself to myself. It wasn’t a matter of competition with other students. It was a matter of competition with myself to do better than I had done before. When I was a teacher, I hated giving tests. I understood the idea of a bad day or not being a good test taker. Whenever I had a student who had done well all semester long and suddenly had a bad test, I always did what I could to weigh the long-running success of the year more heavily than the one time shot at a test.

I suspect this is what the author of this passage is hinting at in his last couple of lines. God‘s Grace, God’s mercy, means that we can and will be forgiven. It also means as it says whatever test God throws in front of us will be something we can survive through; successful or not.

The examples of those in the past who had been punished for their failure, were not able to give up on those things that they knew were not what God wanted. I like to think of them as the student who never studied, never did homework, failed the test, and then wanted extra credit in order to pass.

‘

I also think when the author admonishes people when they are standing to be cautious, they do not fall, what is really being talked about is what we would’ve called a pop quiz. When I was teaching, we were told to stop giving pop quizzes. We were told they were not academically valid. I argued that while they may or may not been academically valid they were valid as a life skill. Life is a pop quiz. When you’re driving down the road and your tire blows out, that’s pop quiz (pardon the pun). When the dog eats a chocolate bar and has to be run to the emergency vet, that’s a pop quiz. When the grease in the pan on the stove catches fire, that’s a pop quiz. If you are old enough to remember or have seen the movie about the Apollo 13 mission, that’s a really big pop quiz for all of the people involved. In each case you have to take what you know and apply it. It’s not like a final exam. You know what’s on the final and when it is. These life skill quizzes come up and you never know when, how, or even if they will happen.

So, in your devotional time today, think about life’s pop quizzes, and what you do to prepare for them so that if and when they do occur, you are ready.

This Lenten season is meant to prepare us to celebrate Jesus‘ death and resurrection. Think about the fact that even though they had pretty much been told what was going to happen, when and where, the apostles were not ready for the pop quiz that came on what we call Good Friday. Think about Peter who draws his sword and slices off the ear of one of those who has come to arrest Jesus, but within a short time is denying Jesus three times in a row.

Peter failed the pop test, but in the end, he became the leader that Jesus intended for him to be. His commitment over time outweighed his one bad test day. Through God’s grace and mercy it can be that way for all of us.

PRAYER

Merciful God, though we ask that you lead us not into the time of trial, we ask that you be with us if and when it comes. Show us your mercy when we fall short. Amen.

DEVOTION AUTHOR

Weber Baker

Order of Saint Francis and Saint Clare