LEARNING DAILY

1 Corinthians 1:27-28, But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are.

Grace is God’s to use as He desires. I don’t have to understand. Read the verses before the verses above and you will see “God made the foolish the wisdom of this world”. “To those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” Paul wrote for the Corinthians to look around at the people who made up their church; they were very few who were wise according to the world and there were few nobles. The point being it did not take education, great intelligence nor power to be saved. As a matter of fact, “preaching Christ crucified to the Jews was a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness”. Isn’t it amazing that many people allow their intellect and/or their position and wealth to keep them from trusting God and walking with Him in faith daily on a narrow way to His kingdom.

David Jeremiah writes, “God uses five things to accomplish His work: (1) foolish things, (2) weak things, (3) base things, (4) despised things, (5) things which are not. The word weak can be translated ‘sickly, feeble, impotent’ (Acts 4:9). The base things are ignoble [shameful, immoral]. The word despised here means ‘contemptible’ like the way Goliath looked at David and his God (1 Sammuel 17).” Paul emphasizes that God’s standards and values for whom He uses is much different from the world’s standard of wisdom and standards. The question is why? Is not the answer found in the verse above – God is shaming the wise and mighty by using what the world believes are weak and foolish.  

Getting into heaven and walking a narrow way does not come through human wisdom. To the Jew, a god dying on a cross was foolishness, a sign of weakness. Therefore, anyone who would believe in this god would be foolish and weak. How could one honor and follow him. Remember worldly wisdom is not meant to honor God but to please oneself and walk according to what is best in their own estimation. Examine the world around us and see what that thinking has gained! So, God uses the foolish things mentioned to confound the wise.

Through the crucifixion, resurrection, and through choosing the foolish things of the world, God is bringing the philosophies and psychologies of this world system to an end. It is through those who place their faith in Jesus and walk the narrow way with Him to show that the foolishness of the world system is not all it appears to be.

I am so thankful for God’s grace to have called me to be one of the foolish and weak, an idiot as the world would call me, yet, is able to see clearly enough to receive what is actually wise and clear. It is by God’s grace that I trust in Him, walk with Him on a narrow way and receive wisdom that will last throughout eternity! “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)