Day 193 – May 10, 2024: II Corinthians 1-7

In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth he scolded them because of the immorality that was taking place in the church. He went so far as to say that if things don’t change then you need to cast out the person who is acting so. In his second letter he lets the church know how proud he is of them because they listened to his words and now it is time to forgive and to bury the hatchet, to remember no more the transgressions of the person. In fact, he says how proud he is of the church because they made a complete transformation as a result of his words. This isn’t the primary point of the letter, but it is an element that is found in our reading for today that is interesting.

I wanted to lift up two points that I saw in this letter that are well known and should be known by anyone who reads II Corinthians. The first is found in chapter 4 where Paul describes these treasures that we contain in clay jars. We have the power of Christ within our bodies, and yet our bodies are so weak and frail that it seems as if at any moment they can crack and break. And yet Christ chose to reside with us and within us. That is a pretty powerful image of having treasure in clay jars, jars that are so vulnerable and yet which can still carry that which is from God, if not God Himself.

In chapter 5 Paul speaks to the ministry of reconciliation which is a paragraph that we would do well to reread. You can focus on vs.15 where we read that no longer live for ourselves but for Christ, then again in vs.20 where we are called ambassadors for Christ. What a poweful image which reminds us that wherever we go we go and represent Christ in all that we do. Finally, I know I said two but it is actually three, we can look at chapter 6:14 where we read that we are not to be unequally yoked. I remember growing up and hearing that verse constantly as we looked to date and we were told, not by my parents but by my youth group leader, to not be unequally yoked. Meaning, we were to find people who loved Jesus and make sure that we date them and not people who didn’t know Jesus.