Daily Bible Verses for 1/6/2017

Daily Verse(s)
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Reading Notes
This passage is not speaking of salvation, because we are already saved by our faith in Christ. But what Paul is speaking about is letting ourselves get caught up in the things and cares of this world. We must remember this world system is under the influence of the evil one, the one whom the Apostle Paul calls the “prince of the power of the air,” who is Satan. What Paul is speaking about is our liberty in Christ. Because of Jesus, we no longer have to follow the dietary or religious restrictions the people followed under the Mosaic Law. However, we have to be careful in our freedom, not to let ourselves get caught up with the pleasures, desires and material possessions of this world. We must remember, as followers of Jesus, we are called to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are to submit to His guidance and His control, as we carry out what He has called us to do on a day to day basis.

We shouldn’t spend our time, attention and desires on things which are passing away. We are not to let the things of this world distract us, or draw us away from Jesus and His calling on our lives. We must remember Satan and this dark world, create distractions meant to take us away from Jesus and to bring us into destruction. But God has called us to be lights to the world. With our salvation comes a new calling. We are to be lighting a path to Jesus for others to see, and not to be enticed by the sins of this world, or be caught up in things that take us away from that calling. Otherwise, those who are lost will not see Jesus in us. Instead of seeing Jesus reflected back in our attitudes and actions, they will look at us and see no difference between us and a fallen world, which is passing away. We have to remember that Satan’s desire is to make every Christian ineffective for the kingdom of God, and useless for spreading the Gospel of Christ.  Therefore, since we belong to Jesus, we must never be brought under the power of the things in this world.