Need Over Creed
If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience. (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:27-31
Do you have a friend who seems totally opposite of your personality? I have one who is quite different from me. He would go left while I would go right. He is loud in situations where I am quite reserved, and he would be uncomfortable in the world I live in. But he’s one of my best friends, and we are loyal to each other not because we see things the same way. It is because we are there for and genuinely support each other. It’s our heart to serve one another that is greater than any of our difference. Last week, I spoke of how it is important to always be respectful of God even if circumstances might allow greater liberties where you might not be as respectful. Today, my devotion focuses on accepting those things from those who might not see the world as you do.
We must remember that some things are acceptable if we are thankful to God for them. In reading today’s verses, I struggled to understand what Paul was getting at. He was describing partaking of food offered to an idol. It would seem to me pretty cut and dry that would be a bad thing (idolatry). But Paul noted that if He is thankful to the source from which all things come from, which is God Himself, why should he be condemned? It then hit me that it is not about the purpose of the food. It is about the heart of the person who chooses to eat. For example, Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan show that it is not about the faith that determined the right thing to do. It was the act of mercy. We know this because Jesus described a priest and Temple assistant that passed by the Jewish man attacked by bandits, but He noted how a despised Samaritan came along and helped him. I underlined that word because Jesus wanted to emphasize that it was the person who we would least respect in the parable that displayed the most Christ-like behavior. Thus, Jesus was pointing out that it is not about the title of a person. It’s about the heart and mercy shown that matters above all else. Fast forward to Paul’s point. It was not about partaking in the meal. It was about being thankful to the provisions of the true living God. And to add on to last week’s devotion, it is an opportunity toward a deeper and more authentic relationship with Christ.
God is truly good. It is a simple phrase, but if we take this to its most effective usage, we understand that anything given to us is a provision of God. Not just our own efforts. Now it does not mean that we should take everything given to us particularly if it would offend God (i.e., take money dropped accidentally by a bank robber). But if we are offered food in the presence of someone of a different belief, it may be fair to believe that we are being provision by God that we can be thankful for. Let us remember that He is a provider beyond what we might believe is possible. Are you accepting of God’s provision from places outside of your perceived ‘acceptable’ means? How can you focus on the need of others above your differences? My prayer is that we understand God provides for based on need. Not creed. Amen.