Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 1 Corinthians 9:16
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that “to woe” is to express dread, distress and despair—an orientation towards life with which I’m quite familiar, for I’ve certainly done my share of “woe-ing”. “Woe is me, I’ve got pimples before my date.” “Woe is me, I got cut from the team.” “Woe is me, I didn’t get into my school of choice.” “Woe is me, I got left off the party list.” “Woe is me, I didn’t get the job I really wanted.” I learned how “to woe” early in life. That’s why this small portion of the Word is so convicting and refreshing.
“Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”… Make us the kind of people, like Paul, who are so taken and captured with the gospel that all of life is measured in terms of the gospel—who you are and what you’re up to, Jesus.
May our joys be defined by the incalculable riches of the gospel. May our thinking be shaped by the liberating truths of the gospel. May our dreams be fueled with the wondrous future of the gospel. May our hopes be bound up with the guaranteed advancing of the gospel. May our peace be strengthened by the resurrection power of the gospel. May our choices be regulated by the kingdom priorities of the gospel. May our satisfaction be intensified by the fruit-bearing presence of the gospel. May our woes be primarily determined by how little we “get” of the gospel.
We’re not all gospel-preachers, in the terms of gifts and calling, but every follower of Jesus is to be a consumer and conduit of the gospel of your grace and kingdom. Forgive us, Jesus, when we waste our woes on self-engendered pity parties… maudlin me-centered melancholy… or whine-ing and dining on our disappointments in life and criticisms of others.
So very Amen, I pray, in your wonderful and merciful name.
