Daily Reading // 1 Corinthians 11:27-34
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 11:28 (NKJV) But let a man examine himself ...
1 Corinthians 11:31-32 (NKJV) 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Self-examination. Judging yourself. Self awareness. It’s not easy. It is vitally important.
Paul is speaking here about preparation for communion but certainly this has a much broader application. The person who is able to judge themself is free from the judgment of others. Not that the judgment of others won’t come, but the person who has judged their own life and is confident in it won’t be swayed by the judgment of others.
Someone who hasn’t evaluated themself is susceptible to every opinion of others.
But self-examination isn’t easy. I can either judge myself too severely or too lightly. Self-examination can easily become self-condemnation which leads to spiritual paralysis. It can also become self-justification which leads to promiscuity.
The only way to perform a proper self-examination is to do it in the light of God’s word. That is my only true measuring line. I am what it says I am. I do what it tells me to do. It searches the inner motives of my heart (Hebrews 4:12) and helps me keep my way pure (Psalm 119:9,11).
RESPOND // ORATIO
Pray in response to what the Lord has spoken to you.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. Amen.
Psalms 139:23-24 (NKJV)
** SPECIAL PRAYER REQUEST TODAY **
Lord Jesus, I pray for those effected by fires throughout the state of Oregon today. I pray for Your grace and protection. As You say in Your Word, rescue those in need from the flames. I pray for the flames to stop advancing and to even retreat today. May there be many stories of Your miracle-working power. Amen!
Tomorrow’s reading -> 1 Corinthians 12:1-11