The Group Less Crowded

Daily Reading:  1 Corinthians 2-3

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.  (1 Corinthians 3.1)

Devotional Thought:  Mark Twain said, "There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded."  Another said there are "the ones who tell the stories, and the ones about whom the stories get told."  Still another: "those who love to talk, and those who hate to listen."  And finally: "those who believe there are two kinds of people and those who don’t."  The Apostle Paul fell into that category, seeing three kinds: 1) mere humans; 2) spiritual people; 3) people of the flesh (or infants in Christ).

Let’s take a look at these three categories.

• Before people come to know Christ, they are “mere humans.”  Paul is not being derogatory in any way but rather is stating a spiritual condition: Apart from Christ, we have only human life in us.

• The ultimate destination for people is to be "spiritual."  When we are spiritual we think like Christ, act like Christ, love like Christ, serve like Christ.

• In between these two categories is a third category where the Corinthians were stuck: "people of the flesh."  Those in this category have been given new life in Christ; they are “beyond” being merely human.  Yet, they are not completely spiritual, not completely filled with God’s Spirit.  Infants in Christ, they cannot digest solid food.  They must be babied.

It’s so easy to get "stuck" where we don’t belong. We just have to act like babies.  But, Christ did not give us new birth to keep us as infants.  He wants us to grow, to be completely filled with the Spirit and under the Spirit’s control, to be mature enough that we might serve the needs of others.

Are you in the group less crowded?

Prayer: Father, I am so thankful that I am your child.  But help me not to be childish.  Help me, I pray, to grow up into Christ, becoming more like him every day.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 109:1-5

1 My God, whom I praise, do not remain silent,

2 for people who are wicked and deceitful have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues.

3 With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause.

4 In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.

5 They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship.