1 Cor 10 Eat, Drink, Live

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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1 Corinthians 10:1-33

Warnings against Idolatry

1I don't want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, F49 what happened to our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. God guided all of them by sending a cloud that moved along ahead of them, and he brought them all safely through the waters of the sea on dry ground. 2As followers of Moses, they were all baptized in the cloud and the sea. 3And all of them ate the same miraculous F50 food, 4and all of them drank the same miraculous water. For they all drank from the miraculous rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5Yet after all this, God was not pleased with most of them, and he destroyed them in the wilderness.
6These events happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did 7or worship idols as some of them did. For the Scriptures say, "The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged themselves in pagan revelry." F51 8And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. 9Nor should we put Christ F52 to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10And don't grumble as some of them did, for that is why God sent his angel of death to destroy them. 11All these events happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us, who live at the time when this age is drawing to a close.
12If you think you are standing strong, be careful, for you, too, may fall into the same sin. 13But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.
14So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am about to say is true. 16When we bless the cup at the Lord's Table, aren't we sharing in the benefits of the blood of Christ? And when we break the loaf of bread, aren't we sharing in the benefits of the body of Christ? 17And we all eat from one loaf, showing that we are one body. 18And think about the nation of Israel; all who eat the sacrifices are united by that act.
19What am I trying to say? Am I saying that the idols to whom the pagans bring sacrifices are real gods and that these sacrifices are of some value? 20No, not at all. What I am saying is that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don't want any of you to be partners with demons. 21You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord's Table and at the table of demons, too. 22What? Do you dare to rouse the Lord's jealousy as Israel did? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
23You say, "I am allowed to do anything"—but not everything is helpful. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"—but not everything is beneficial. 24Don't think only of your own good. Think of other Christians and what is best for them.
25Here's what you should do. You may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace. Don't ask whether or not it was offered to idols, and then your conscience won't be bothered. 26For "the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." F53
27If someone who isn't a Christian asks you home for dinner, go ahead; accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you and don't ask any questions about it. Your conscience should not be bothered by this. 28But suppose someone warns you that this meat has been offered to an idol. Don't eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. 29It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person. Now, why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? 30If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it? 31Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God. 32Don't give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. 33That is the plan I follow, too. I try to please everyone in everything I do. I don't just do what I like or what is best for me, but what is best for them so they may be saved.
FOOTNOTES:F49: Greek brothers. F50: Greek spiritual; also in 10:4. F51: Exodus 32:6. F52: Some manuscripts read the Lord. F53: Ps 24:1.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
As I read through this passage today I’m reading in a new light that I’ve not read it in before. I see the spirit of the words today more than the letter (list) I’ve seen before.
The sum and essence of this chapter is our covenant allegiance with God.
If the LORD is God serve Him, if Baal is god, serve him. There IS NO middle road, no fence to ride, no gray, no lukewarm. It is either passionate or cold, one or the other.
There are many lines being drawn inside of this chapter. Purposes are outlined. A call to kingdom of God allegiance is made and detailed. If one reads this chapter without knowing the heart of God the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit they might see another list of rules and regulations.
The chapter is all about saving the world we live in, because of knowing His great love.
Jesus IS THE Way, THE, Truth and THE Life! There is only One way to God the Father and to escape the eternal doom due us all without the Body and Blood of the Lordship of Christ.
This chapter hits on the mixture of compromise and deception that says “I can say I live for God and it’ll be as though I do.” This is a deception that comes from satan himself. We are either all in or all out, there is and can be no middle road. This passage outlines the lanes of those roads. If you are doing and living this way, then it tells what road you are on, the road to life eternal; or the road to death and destruction! There’s NO median. It just is one or the other.
If one is a seeker of truth, he’ll desire to be checked out and listen to make sure he is on the righteous pathway. Once he hears the truth of the checklist, he submits to the necessary changes, not as rules and laws, but as the way of salvation! Otherwise he’s headed off a cliff, and that can possibly be at the next turn! Knowing THE TRUTH (Jesus) will set us free from sin and death.
Ok, let’s delve in…
Why do we eat and drink and for what purpose? To stay alive, right? (like duh)J
Ok, now let’s ask…for whom do we live, or what are we living or what are we alive for?
Many would say family, and rightly so. God placed each of us in our own little harvest fields, family is where the development of character and of integrity is accomplished FOR the Harvest of the Kingdom. If I’m not developed in the character of Christ where I’m seen the most, at home, why am I trying to export my attributes? Yet when I am able to exercise the characteristics of Christ at home through thick, thin and every other layer of life, then I truly have something to export. When my whole family lives this way we are more than conquerors for His kingdom establishment on earth!
So eating to live for family is great, but not the root and core point of living and eating.
Really, it is time to be willing to look and see who we already are serving and eating and drinking for. To “eat” figuratively expresses: “to feed” or be fed - portraying the duty of a Christian teacher to promote in every way the spiritual welfare of the members of the church.
To “drink” in this passage figuratively means: to receive into the soul what serves to refresh strengthen, nourish it unto life eternal
Ok, looking at these brings a new angle.
Is what I’m currently partaking in feeding my soul towards eternal salvation? Am I being nurtured by it and encouraged to grow in the spirit?
What are some things we “feed” on? TV, radio, internet, music, education sources, the fellowship of men and women, godly or ungodly, etc. Do these current things in my life promote intimacy between me and My Father God?
Eating and drinking are very intimate terms. It speaks of communing with someone you share life with. Someone you Commune,=live, with. If I live with a man, and I’m either married or not married to him, and we regularly eat and drink together, it shows we are intimate with one another. We sit face to face regularly.
So who or what do I do regularly eat and drink of that I’ve become intimate with? (I live this way regularly.)
The passage here takes us from eating and drinking wrongly to eating and drinking properly.
Do you know that we can actually learn and mature in our natural life and in our life in Christ without personal experiences? We can learn from other’s experiences! If we are wise we will observe others, read about others (which is why books are written), and learn and live righteously.
One can become Born Again and yet never grow up. The growing up part happens through the progress of a learner, who continues. The born again person must grow up, must continue in order to actually be saved.
What is an “idolater”? It is: a worshipper of false gods, an idolater is anyone even Christians who may, participate in any way, shape or form in the worship or in the service of the heathen, he is enslaved to the world, a covetous man is an example of an idolater - as a worshipper of Mammon, lover of sin, he gives of His life to a bit of anything and everything except God Most High.
It is really the indulging of one’s life in everything that does not promote godliness or righteous spiritual growth either personally or as an example to others.
Here are some of the gages mentioned in this passage for our measurement sake- pagan revelry- worldly activity that in no way serves in the promotion of kingdom of God activity, it actually takes away from it. Sexual immorality- joining our bodies for (temporary) pleasure, not promoting covenantal union, or the communion for godly reproduction of kingdom purpose. “Putting Christ F52 to the test, grumblings, worship of idols, these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don't want any of you to be partners with demons.” We put Christ to the test when we have one foot involved with worldly ways (which is not just “the world” but is satan’s terrain) and another foot in the kingdom, thinking we might be saved if at least one foot lives or looks like it lives right. Do you want a 50-50 chance? “Grumblings” are complaints against the work of God- “it’s too hard, he asks too much, how can I ever do this, they are too domineering”, etc… And “worship” can be defined- attended too, both in action and thought.
So we should check in with God and then eat and then drink life and blessing. If we find we’ve erred then we must make any necessary corrections to go on. We are living for eternity right here right now. We have a “job” to do, that’s why we are here. We must eat and drink life or death will be working in us, its own deceptive work. We’re not awaiting death for the sifting out to see if our heavenly raffle ticket is called on. We need to examine ourselves now and serve Him righteously and with a whole heart. A heart made right, and a life full of vitality to get a few things done!
How can we act as though we eat intimately with the Lord, thinking we are saying with our actions, “I’m with you”, by the mere action of being at His table, yet our hearts and the actions of our life on other days do not show that? We cannot. If we do that, we are deceived and we eat death and destruction. Deception is not from God, it is from satan. He is the liar and deceiver. He is the author of hypocrisy, he is the one who tells people if they act a certain way, then they can consider themselves as they act. That is a lie.
God sees way beyond any act or put on. Even religious activity does not please the Lord, for He knows if our hearts are with Him or not. Judas ate with the Lord, and no one in the room knew his heart except Jesus. Betrayal was found in his heart by the Lord. He himself may not have known it. Only God can reveal it, even to we ourselves! We must come face to face intimately with Him and openly ask. “Search my heart Oh God, look on me and see if there’s anything wicked inside of me, then lead me away from the wickedness of lies and deception”. This is the only way we can truly eat and drink life and blessing.
If we eat properly we eat, LIFE, health, and strength! Amen.

Daily Thought to Ponder -
“Oh Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good!”