Daily Reading // 1 Corinthians 15:35-49
READY // SILENCIO
Take a moment to quiet your mind and prepare your heart for your time with the Lord.
READ // LECTIO
Read the passage above up to three times aloud. Allow yourself to feel the words as they are read.
REFLECT // MEDITATIO
Now direct your focus on the words, phrases concepts or sentences that got your attention. What is God speaking to you today through His word?
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (NKJV) 42 So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. [The body] is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
As kids we used to plant seeds once in a while. Sometimes it was a class project and sometimes it was a home project. The goal wasn’t to harvest but to observe.
We took a seed given to us by our teacher or our mom. We put dirt in a styrofoam cup or in the individual cups of an egg carton. We planted the seed, gave it water and waited.
For a kid it seemed like forever until anything happened. Of course, things were happening below the surface that we couldn’t see. Even before that changes were happening inside the seed itself. We couldn’t see those changes either.
Finally a small green sprout began to poke out of the top of the dirt. Then it continued to grow into a plant, according to what we had planted. It didn’t take a scientist or a farmer to realize that the plant looked nothing at all like the seed. The seed was small and dark. The plant was much larger and much greener.
One thing Paul is telling me here is that my body is a seed. It is small, hard and lifeless in comparison to the plant I will become. In order for that seed to become a plant, it dies and is buried. It’s the same with me.
I won’t be buried. I will be planted.
Think of an oak tree. It is a mighty tree that comes from the planting of a single small acorn. A nut. That is a picture of eternity. In this life I might be a nut, but my eternity is promising!
Right now I can only see the seed. Who I really am is the eternal plant, not the seed.
I’m an oak, not a nut!
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Jesus, When You rose from the dead You showed us eternity. You gave me a pathway to who I really am. I will follow You in life and I will follow You in death. Amen.
Tomorrow’s reading -> 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
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