PURSUE
1 CORINTHIANS 13:13 & 14:1
1 CORINTHIANS 13:13 & 14:1 NKJ
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
OBSERVATION:
Okay, I am taking some liberties today with this devotional.
I am combining the last verse of Chapter 13 with the first verse of Chapter 14. Considering that these letters were not written in chapter and verse, they were added by the translators, I believe I am on safe ground.
The Corinthian church must have been a wild bunch. Corinth was the Las Vegas of the ancient world, so these believers came from a morally wild city. What happened in Corinth needed to stay in Corinth, and be buried.
So, in his letter, Paul is giving a great amount of instructions to this church. Chapter 12 is insight into the gifts of the Spirit. Chapter 14 is predominantly about the proper usage of tongues in their public services. Notice Paul never questions the legitimacy of tongues, just their usage.
Sandwiched in between these instructions on spiritual gifts is Chapter 13 about love. And verse 13 tells us love is the greatest of the big three, which includes faith and hope. That's a big statement. Love, the God kind of love, is greater than faith and hope.
When we consider that God is love, it makes a bit more sense. We have emphasized faith and hope, and they are not weaker forces, but we need to give love its due.
And we need to go after love. Paul says to purse love. Looking this word up in the Greek dictionary, we discover this is a very active word. Pursue means to press hard after. Pursue with earnestness and diligence in order to obtain. To go after with the desire of obtaining. The word pursue is not passive. Love must be very important.
APPLICATION:
Whenever I am going after something with the goal of obtaining it, I am thinking through my pursuit. I am looking for ways to make it happen.
In a similar sense, we have to do the same thing with walking in love. How do we obtain this love in our lives? What needs to happen? What needs to change? This is not a goal for the faint-hearted. Walking in this kind of love requires something of us. But we can do it. And it is the most excellent way.
PRAYER:
Thank You, Father, that I am equipped to walk in this strong, excellent way. The way of love is my pursuit.