Focus

As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place.

Read

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 (NRSV)

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Reflect

As Paul developed his thoughts further, he made his point more explicitly. The perishable body must put on imperishability. This is part of the victory in Jesus Christ. It is the victory at its fullest, its most complete.

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” But our victory is in heaven not on this earth, in eternity not in the temporal world we inhabit now.

Going a step further, Paul said we are to be steadfast and immovable because your labor in the Lord is not in vain. We prepare for eternity by living lives that honor and glorify God in this world. That way when we arrive in heaven we will not have to miss a beat. We can praise God forever by praising the Lord in this life first. We praise God in this life because we know that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior in our lives.

Pray

Lord God, teach us to praise you even when we cannot feel your presence, even when the world seems dark and gray. Help us to remember that you do not change; therefore, your salvation is eternal from this life and into the next. Thank you, Lord, for your corrections of our weaknesses. Amen.

Go with God.