Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 1 Cor. 9:16
Lord Jesus, what a unique verse. We know that “to woe” is to express dread, distress, and despair—an orientation toward life with which we’re all quite familiar, for we’ve certainly done our share of “woe-ing.”
“Woe is me, I didn’t get my way.” “Woe is me, I got left off the party list.” “Woe is me, I didn’t get the hunk or honey I really deserved.” We all learned how “to woe” early in life. That’s why this small portion of Scripture is so refreshing, and convicting.
“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—hearing and believing it; marinating in it and making it known.
May our joys be defined by the incalculable riches of the gospel; our thinking be shaped by the liberating truths of the gospel; our dreams be fueled with the wondrous future of the gospel; and our hopes be bound up with the guaranteed inheritance of the gospel.
May our peace be strengthened by the resurrection power of the gospel; our choices be regulated by the kingdom priorities of the gospel; our satisfaction be intensified by daily manna of the gospel, and our “woe” be primarily claimed by how little we “get” the gospel.
We’re not all vocational gospel preachers, in terms of gifts and calling; but every one of us is to be a constant consumer and joyful conduit of the gospel. Forgive us, Jesus, when we waste our woes on self-pity, selfishness, and all forms of “self-ism.” So very Amen we pray, in your most awesome and loving name.
