Corinthian believers, urging them to live a disciplined life (I Corin thians 9:24-27). It is a sad commen tary to realize that even though God makes adequate provision for our success we fail to take advan tage of the victory we can have in the Lord. In the first five verses of the tenth chapter we read of God's provision for the children of Israel. The Apostle speaks of the people as being "under the cloud." This refers to Exodus 13:21, 22 and tells us of divine direction and protec tion. How tragic, in the light of these blessings, we read, “But with many of them God was not well pleased" (vs. 5). We, too, should profit from such exhortations, con cerned lest we stumble and falter in our walk of faith. We should heed the practical counsel which Scripture gives. The firstword of caution could be summarized by declaring, "Don't lust after evil things" (vs. 6). The idea here is of any desires or affec tions which might not be in ac cordance with the will of Cod. This is not to say that we should not have goals. The problem comes in when the things on which we have set our hearts are basically evil. If we fail to heed this warning we will do nothing more than to en courage defeat in our lives. How much better to keep as the focal interest a purpose to be an effec tive witness, displaying Christ's love to others. In verses 7 to 10 we have an explicit picture of what some of these “evil things" are. Note the warnings against idolatry, fornica tion, unbelief, criticism and doubt ing. We see the downfall in the people of Israel in their wilderness Page 45
en by our Lord for faithful service. It will be presented to individuals who minister to God's glory. He desired to hear the words of Christ, “Well done thou good and faithful servant." Here was a goal-oriented method of reaching the lost. Our desire should be not simply to act like Christians or to attempt to do a passable job. We must have as our consuming purpose the desire to spread the Gospel to all classes for all are most certainly lost with out a personal reception of Christ. It should be helpful for us to note that Paul was interested in disciplining himself (vs. 25ff). He wanted to make certain that he was temporate or in control of the power God had given to him. Satan would seek to encourage us to live for self. This is a constant contest that goes on within us (Galatians 5:16). There is a power that breaks the power which is available to us through the indwelling Holy Spirit. There should be a concern that we be as effective as we possibly can in reaching others. The Apostle would make his body a slave to him and the purposes of Christ, rather than being a slave to the flesh. This calls for a renewed life and a renewed purpose through the strength Christ alone can give. We must not permit self to have the supremacy. May we likewise dedicate ourselves to this same principle of life in the stewardship of our time, our talent and our tithe, until He comes to call us to be with Himself. As incongruous as it may sound, it is possible for one who knows Christ as Saviour, with all the re sources of God available to him, to still live a mediocre, substandard life. This is why Paul wrote to the
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