Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
Be honest. We all have the same reaction when someone tells us how to do something we know how to do and have done a hundred times. “I KNOW!!!” It is human nature to tell someone we need no instructions for this task. Paul had just taken the church in Corinth on a journey through the disaster that was Israel and the covenant. They may have been muttering that they knew all this already. Then he wrote that all of it was written for their instruction. I am sure many of them felt they were beyond that. The evidence is that last line in verse 12. The person who needs no instruction finds himself staying up all night Christmas Eve undoing their mistake on the big gift.
We need instruction in this world and thinking we don’t is a recipe for disaster. The temptations are many and the escapes are few in this world of media saturation. Praise the Lord for the Bible! These things were written for our instruction as the end of the ages nears. Let us bow down and kneel before our Lord instead of seeking to stand by ourselves. The fall will be softer if we fall in worship instead of in disgrace. The Bible is our manual for godly living and we find the first step on page one.
Dear Lord, thank you for the Bible to instruct and to guide. May we learn from the mistakes of the past so we glorify you in the future. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church