A traveler arrives at the foot of a high mountain that he must get to the other side of. He looks one way and sees a path that appears well-worn, free of thicket, and wide. He looks the other way and sees a path that is narrow, full of thicket, and less worn. He knows he must choose wisely, or he may not make it to the other side. So, the man takes the wide, well-worn, open path. After several miles of hiking, the path begins to narrow and then disappears all together. Before him is a cliff too steep to traverse. He’s hit a dead end. Another traveler arrives at the place the first man began. This man has been given directions from a trusted friend. The directions say: “Don’t be fooled! Choose the narrow path with the thicket. That path alone can get you to the other side of the mountain.” So, that man travels the narrow path. After hiking miles through cumbersome thicket, he arrives at the other side of the mountain, as promised.
We’ve all been told that looks can deceive and not to judge a book by its cover. Like the two paths, there are two different ways of looking at the Resurrection message. The Apostle Paul said, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).” Paul’s “message of the cross” is shorthand for the entire salvation message, from the beginning of creation to Jesus’ life, crucifixion, resurrection, and exaltation, to the coming of God’s Kingdom in all its fullness in the New Heaven and New Earth. This message, if you seriously consider it, will lead you to two diametrically different responses. Either it will seem foolish to you that God would save the world through a Son, who alleged to be divine and who was executed as a criminal, or it will be the power of God for you, because this message is mightily changing your life (cp. 1 Corinthians 1:19-25).
What may seem wise and safe may not be what it appears to be. What seems foolish may prove to be wise. Do you want to know why God chose foolishness to right the wrong in us and in the world? Email me using the icon at the bottom of this devotion.
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