Wednesday, 10/5/16
The next two weeks we will be following Paul’s Letter to the
Galatians. Yesterday we read the story
of Paul’s conversion, followed by his going up to Jerusalem to meet with the
Apostles. That was Chapter One.
Today, starting Chapter Two, we read, “Then, after fourteen years, I again went up to Jerusalem.”
Fourteen years! Where was he in the meantime? What was he
doing in those years?
For the answer to that we need only to look at his Letters.
For one, let’ look at Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.
In it’s Chapter Thirteen we read,
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ... Love is
patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. ...
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things.
In it’s
Chapter Fifteen we read
But
someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they
come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body
that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else
So
will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is
perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in
glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual body.
We often see and hear those words quoted. None of us can come
up with such fine words. It was the same with Paul. Those perfect words did not
just pop into his head. No! They came to him a little bit at a time. They came
as slow products of fourteen years of his pondering the great truths of our
faith.
In the last eight years of our seminary training we began
each day with a half hour of silently musing and praying over some mystery of
our faith. What was good for us, will also work for you. No other form of prayer
will help you as much as by your quietly pondering the truths of our faith.
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