Comfort
Day 608, Saturday, April 11
2 Corinthians 1:1-22
The word “comfort” or “comforts” appears nine times in just one paragraph (verses 3-7), which is nearly half the times it is used in the whole New Testament. This sets a very different tone from 1 Corinthians, which quickly got into chastising the Corinthian church for its divisiveness.
Here the tone is gentle. “Our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so you also share in our comfort.”
Most of 2 Corinthians maintains this contrast with 1 Corinthians. (The final four chapters of 2 Corinthians shift to an angry tone so dramatically that some scholars believe it to have once been a separate letter. We’ll look at that when we get there.)
Paul also speaks of the hardships he and his traveling companions have endured, but speaks of them as learning experiences: “But this happened so that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”
-Rev. Mark Fleming
Saturday meditation
Psalms 107:10-22
Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.
Prayer focus
Make us stand firm in Christ, receiving his seal of ownership through his Spirit.