Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Theological Education to Strengthen Faith

I Corinthians 4:14-21
So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked “Do you understand what you are reading?” (v. 30).

How can we recognize the presence of God in our daily lives? To recognize the presence of God in our lives, we need to deepen our piety via meditating the word of God. Meditation helps us to make right judgments about the value and meaning of what we are and to whom we engage with.  To sharpen our inner light and to deepen our faith, in the light of the faith and inner light within us the theological education provides the fuel. Theological education helps us to move our faith from where we are to where we should be in our lives. In this sense theology is the faith in motion in the light of our faith and the contemporary challenges.  

The call of God was the inner driving force of Paul to preach the Gospel. “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel” (I Corinthians 1:17). Faith in Jesus had enabled Paul to understand the meaning of God’s call. To him, the call of God is to preach the reality of the redemption in our Saviour Jesus Christ. This is the theological premise on which Paul evaluates himself and servants of God. He agrees that co-workers with Christ are stewards and servants of the mysteries of God. To Paul, Jesus Christ is the true judge. People in and around us are not our judges. The judgment is Lord’s work. Hence there is no question of spiritual exhaustion.

For Paul, the servants of God appear to the world as fools for Christ’s sake. In this passage, Paul directs the Corinthian church to change their focus of attention from this worldly comforts including wealth. Instead he envisions his message will help them to shift their focus of attention from this world to Christ. He is sending Timothy to Corinth to teach them how to change their focus from these worldly pleasures to God’s heavenly richness. What do we really want?
 
Prayer
 Gracious Father, Can I love and not follow you and to see and not possess you forever. Amen.
 
Rev. Dr. Joseph Daniel

Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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