Thoughts for the Day

Tuesday, 28th January 2025: Christians and the over confident conscience

Temptation Holy Spirit Conscience Sin 1 Corinthians 10

Reading : Verses from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 10

Temptation

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

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 he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)


Thoughts

Today we look at St Paul's harsh comments to the Christians in Corinth. He has been talking about the danger of eating meat that has been offered to idols, but despite his warnings they are confident that they are the "good guys". They are effectively saying "We have received the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, so we are safe from any retribution by God!" Paul reminds them of what happened to their ancestors. Despite all the wonderful things that happened to them after leaving Egypt while they were in the desert, they had still failed to follow God's instructions to enter the Promised land and many were struck down. The special relationship with God doesn't mean the people are safe either from temptation, or from any sin they may commit.

We may think we are a faithful Christian, and have a fairly good conscience, knowing when we get that sinking feeling that we should walk away from something that is likely to do us physical, mental or spiritual.harm. Unfortunately we're also pretty good at convincing ourselves that an action is harmless. Our list of seemingly harmless pursuits might be anything from "one more pint", watching violent films every night, ignoring another's plight, gossiping about others, or lying to save our skin. It could equally be many other things, only we will know which when we search our conscience and measure it against outcomes of evil or good. Ultimately the rule should be - if something is against our conscience, then to ignore our conscience is sinful, for as Christians this is one way that God prompts us to live a more faithful life.


Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,
forgive us when we make wrong choices
that lead us to commit sins
that let ourselves and You down.
Help us not to think we above Your law
and fall into temptation.
May we learn to be scrupulously honest
with our conscience,
and turn away from all that does not measure
up to Your standards.
Amen.


Follow Up Thoughts

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