Foolish
Reading: 1 Corinthians 1; Psalm 117
26 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, 29 so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29 NLT)
God deliberately chose the foolish over the wise, the powerless over the powerful, the despised over the important.
• God chose Moses, a fugitive from Egyptian justice, who had long since given up on his ability to make a difference in his world, to shatter the might of Egypt and lead a band of slaves to nationhood.
• God chose David, a young shepherd from Bethlehem, to kill a giant warrior and lead an oppressed nation to greatness and prosperity.
• God chose Mary, a young girl from a backwater village in the sticks, to be the mother of his Son—sent to be the Lamb of God who takes away our sin.
• Jesus chose fishermen, social misfits, and unremarkable nobodies to carry the Good News message of the Kingdom of God to the world.
• God chooses humility to overcome arrogance, weakness to overcome power, poverty to overcome wealth, and love to overcome hate.
God chose you and me to believe the Gospel story, to receive his salvation by faith alone, and to live Kingdom of God lives in our world.
• We came to faith because, at some point, we recognized our foolishness, our weakness, our poverty, and our need. We recognized our need and believed the Good News message that God loved and accepted us in spite of ourselves!
• Let’s rejoice in what God has done for us and who we have become in Christ, but let’s remember that it’s by his great grace that our little faith has saved us.
Prayer:
Father, Thank you for your great love and grace that called to me in my foolishness, weakness, and poverty! Thank you for choosing my friends and me, for calling us to live purposeful lives, and for uniting us with yourself in the Family of God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen!