1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Living in the Shadow of Glory

Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.

The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—“First the people partied, then they threw a dance.” We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.

 These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. – The Message –

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We want to be close enough to the Glory of God to benefit…but just distant enough so His presence won’t overwhelm us. “Living in the shadow of glory” is counterintuitive since there are no “shadows” in the presence of God (James 1:17). Yet…we scurry for the shadows on a daily basis. 

My dad pastored a church that was a mere shadow of its former glory. It was crumbling around him. When we talked about it he said “Lee, we have unrepented sin in the history of this church that God will not condone and cannot bless. Unless we can cleanse our past we will never create a future”.  The church felt comfortable in the shadows. It never rebounded.

Shadows are the consequence of sin and are opportunities to hide. The church in Corinth is a perfect illustration. It’s why Paul wrote the letter. The temptation to do things our own way is understandable. It’s part of our self-centered human nature.

But…it never works…

So Paul reminds them so. He points to several incidents in the historical life of Israel that demonstrated God’s unwillingness to overlook bad behavior. Of course, we might be special…gifted…and able to get away with things God never condoned in the past.

Or, maybe not…George Santayana said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”

I know…it’s tough always being “on stage” with no margin for error. But it’s possible. Paul reminds us no test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

Live boldly out there today…