Foolish Things Wisely Chosen
1 Corinthians 1:26–31
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. 1 Corinthians 1:27

As you think about what is needed to live a Christian life, to live in a way that is honoring to the Lord Jesus Christ, you naturally feel inadequate to such things; and indeed you are. You say to yourself, Even with my wisdom I am still foolish; even with my strength I am weak; even with my nobility I feel like a nobody; I still fail to achieve; I still have no status in God’s sight. So you say to yourself, Of what use am I? How can I be useful? Each of these questions is good, and the insights are excellent. But at this point God speaks to you further and says, “Yes, yes, all these things are true. It is true that I have not chosen the wise, the mighty, the noble. I have chosen people just like you. But look, even though in yourself you are inadequate, I am adequate. I want to become your wisdom so that, in your newfound wisdom, you can make the wisdom of this world look foolish. I want to become your strength so that, in your new strength, you can tear down strongholds. I want to become your status so that, in your new status, you might stand high and speak my word to those who are without it.”

Here I can do no better than direct you to the apostle Paul, the very man who wrote these verses in 1 Corinthians. Here was a man who seemed to have it all— the wisdom of education, the power of a good Roman family, the credentials of a Hebrew birth. But what did this educated rabbi, this powerful figure, this pureblooded Jew, have to say when he spoke spiritually? He said, “All these things that I once counted as being so important, I learned were actually worse than nothing. For not only did they not help me to God, they were actually a hindrance because I was trusting them rather than trusting Jesus Christ. Moreover, I was using my talents to persecute the church. But God intervened. He spoke from heaven with a blinding light. He said, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?’ Then he turned my life around. And I learned to count all these things—wisdom, power, and status—as refuse, in order that I might win Christ, and find him to be my all.”

Is Christ your all? Is he wisdom to you? He can be. Paul says that he “is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (v. 30 KJV). Is he your strength? Paul claims “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13 KJV). Is he your status? He can be that too. For in him we become children of God and can be all that he wants us to be.

Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865

Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.