Tuesday 9 Feb 2021

February 9: 1 Corinthians 9:16-18
 
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 9:18
What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
 
Devotion:
I have often been asked why I don’t advertise my devotionals or charge for them or make them into a book; I guess this passage says it all for me. I do this because I want to keep myself in the Gospel as well as knowing that I am giving the gospel to others for free – as it was intended to be. I despair at the history books when the church tried to restrict who could have access to the gospel by chaining bibles down in churches!
 
God has requested we each play our part in telling others the gospel truth. Jesus came to reinforce this by giving the disciples permission to go out and teach to the people and not just the Israelites, but all the Gentile world as well! Maybe Jesus opened up the doors because it was getting to be a bit of a select group of people. Maybe the early preachers in our history were placed there to open the doors to those who needed it because the church was becoming a select group.
 
Our church still has an air of selectiveness or even oppression – open the doors and shout out the gospel! God wants His word to be heard up and down the land without limits. God wants us to share the gospel with our neighbours and them with their neighbours – this is how the gospel is spread.
 
I know some people want to be able to make a living out of being a preacher who can go up and down the lands to spread the word, but maybe God is simply saying we need to focus on the people who are close to us and allow the natural spread of the word to gain ground like it was intended!
 
Points to Ponder:
How many people know you as a Christian?
 
How many of those people are outside of your normal church group?