When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I became the man of God so I don’t have to take correction from anyone else.
Sorry folks, I think I just gave apostle Paul a headache. That is certainly not how he wrote the letter to the Corinthians. However, this is exactly how so many of us behave! We believers- especially those of us in the Pentecostal/non-denominational camp, tend to live as if we’re never to be corrected. Apostle Paul, (though he was not perfect by any means) said that when he became a man, he put away childish things. Something tells me that he didn’t sit center stage as the great preacher of the church just by not listening to those who attempted to speak into him.
In fact, God apparently saw something in Paul, then Saul, that Peter did not have. Paul, as some might say, “had an anointing” on his life. While he thought he was on the right path in the will of God, God had an entirely different path for him. Let’s take a trip to Damascus, shall we?
Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do? Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
-Acts 9:1-6
What are you doing today that makes you think you’re on the right path, even walking in the exact footsteps of God the Father? Could you or I actually be wrong? What if the work you are doing today burns up with wood, hay, and stubble at judgment and does not survive the fire? Then your foundation was not truly found in Christ, but chances are it was just under another man’s “anointing” which will not get far in eternity.
In a matter of a few steps, Paul went from being a blasphemer to God to the mouthpiece of God. One very important step was submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, not declaring that he had a supposed anointing and should be respected.
The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your’s; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your’s; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
-1 Corinthians 3:20-23
King James Version (KJV)
- God Must Submit to Me, Right? - January 30, 2018
- Are you Passing the Litmus Test for Salvation? - September 13, 2017
- Say Hello to 2017…and Goodbye to 2016’s Negativity - January 1, 2017
