Looking To The Cross | Day 19 | 1 Corinthians 1:18

In many translations, the word “folly” is replaced by “foolishness”. Increasingly in our culture, the Christian faith is scorned as foolishness; described as an “opiate for the masses” and a “crutch for the weak”. Those who don’t see their need for salvation often find the story of Christ’s atoning death to be laughable.

It probably seemed foolish for Noah to build the ark. But it saved mankind. It probably seemed foolish for the Israelites to smear blood on doorframes, but it spared them from the final plague. It probably seemed foolish to march around the city of Jericho seven times to overtake the city. But it gave the Israelites their first taste of the Promised Land.

It probably seemed foolish for the servants at the wedding in Cana to take jars of water to the master when he called for wine. But it set the stage for Jesus’ first miracle. It probably seemed foolish to Mary and Martha to open the tomb of their brother after four days of decay. But they trusted Jesus and He rose Lazarus from the grave.

Thank goodness these people were not “wise in their own eyes”. They believed God even when it went against logic, popular opinion, and their own fears and doubts. They did not allow human reasoning or emotion to obscure supernatural power. 

First Corinthians 1:27 tells us that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise”. In chapter 4, Paul admonishes us to be “fools for Christ” and in Romans 10:11 reminds us that “anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame”.

The words of slain Ecuadorian missionary Jim Elliot should be taken to heart… “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”.