Stumbling Blocks

There is a great warning in I Corinthians 10 that is specific to our time and culture.  The Israelites were ‘laid low in the wilderness’ though they had the spiritual rock of Christ.  There were four things that they did that made them stumble:

1. Idolatry
2. Immoral Behaviour
3. Testing/Trying the Lord
4. Grumbling

The four stumbling blocks are connected.  Idolatry brings about immoral behaviour, testing/trying the Lord and grumbling.  Idolatry puts something else in place of God.  That 'something' steals our time, our thoughts and our worship - lessening our ability to connect with God and His will for us.  Thus we don't follow His will which results in Immoral Behaviour.  We don't trust His plan and we don't believe what He says, which results in testing/trying Him. We don't view our situation in light of His perspective so we grumble and complain.

The Israelites followed an external craving outside of what God had for them.  This was considered idolatry because it distracted them from God.  The evil thing they craved is found in this: “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.”  Isn’t that our culture in a nutshell?  Don’t we just want to play...to enjoy our time and get comfort?  This worries me for I am IN this culture of comfort and don’t always have the perception to see my ‘cravings’ for what they are.

This warning hits closer to home in verse 12: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”  In our culture we have taught ourselves to think that we are always right, no matter what we think or do, but our perception is only validated from God’s reference point.  There is only one way to stand, but many ways to fall.

In verse 23 “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.  All things are lawful but not all things edify.”  Do we stop and think if what we do or say is profitable or edifying in the long run?

In verse 31 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God..”  The purpose behind what you do becomes the validation of what you do.  When we look to God for what we receive and what we do with our time, then we are acting in obedience to Him and not following a craving external to our relationship with Him.

How do I make sure that I am not feeding a craving ?  The best way is to bring what I do back in focus with God’s perspective and the best way to do that is to spend time with Him and learn more of who He is so I can correctly discern His will.