You’ve probably found yourself walking nonchalantly, semi-aware of your surroundings. With scarcely a warning, you find yourself tripped up by a tiny protruding rock that you could have easily noticed otherwise and avoided. But you didn’t, for which you pay with a fairly embarrassing fall.
Often, in our walk with God, the same scenario will play out; hence, we are charged to be vigilant. As the scriptures repeatedly tell us, we aren’t to give sin an inch, or we will regret it dearly (Romans 6:12). Any moment of casualness means that we could easily be tripped up. With a physical fall, we risk a scratch or, at worst, a broken bone that could take a few months to heal. However, if the fall were spiritual, recovery would not be so simplistic. A mere trip-up would have far-reaching consequences, as it would also affect those around you.
Which is why Paul charged the Corinthians to take heed lest they fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). I seek merely to echo the same charge to us and to encourage us with the realisation that God has given us the power to stand (Ephesians 6:13).
Are You Running Aimlessly?
The context for 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 is provided in 1 Corinthians 10:7-11. Paul had been reminding the Corinthians, as seen from 1 Corinthians 8, not to be a stumbling block to fellow believers. They were to be a people who run to receive the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). He argued that our goal as Christians should be the prize, and all our efforts should be geared toward that. In 1 Corinthians 10, he holds the people of Israel during their sojourning in the wilderness as an example to be avoided (1 Corinthians 10:11). As 1 Corinthians 10:7-11 shows, they were a people who did not consume themselves with a singular purpose, which is to do all things to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Even with that background alone, I find it needful to pause and ask, ‘How are you running the race? Do you find it necessary to prepare yourself, or do you not see the need to?’ You may suppose that because you have God on your side, you don’t need to do any preparation. Paul warns that such thinking could cost you the prize, even if, through your efforts, many do come to faith (1 Corinthians 9:27). You are to take heed lest you fall short. You must be aware of the dangers around you and the potential damage they could cause.
There Is Nothing New Under The Sun
What makes it possible for us to take heed lest we fall? God, of course, as we’ll get to see shortly. On a less grand scale, however, Paul tells the Corinthians that one of the reasons they could stand firm is because there is nothing new under the sun (1 Corinthians 10:13). The same temptations have plagued mankind since the fall. If you think about it, there has only ever been one temptation that has taken multiple strands. The temptation is that you shall be like God (Genesis 3:5). Everything else flows from that. If ever there is a difference between one generation and another, history shows that it is only in the mode by which man commits the same sin.
All of us, from ancient times to the present, have the same sinful nature governed by the heart (Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 12:34). As 1 Corinthians 10:13 shows, there is nothing that isn’t common to man. Which is why nothing should catch us by surprise or, as Paul put it, nothing can overtake us.
God Makes Our Paths Straight
But our refuge lies in something greater than the absence of novelty. God, being gracious, has not left us to our own devices. We could never do anything that he’d find so shocking, for he orders all things, let alone knows all things.
That means that it is only in God that we can take heed and not fall. He alone is our salvation (Psalm 27:1). Jesus, the Son of God, came to us and did what we, as humans, couldn’t do. He regarded equality with God as something not to be grasped (Philippians 2:6). He fully submitted himself to his Father’s will (Philippians 2:8, Matthew 26:39). Because Jesus did that, we have been granted access to Yahweh and have every confidence that we’ll remain in him. He is faithful even when we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13).
Therefore, we simply trust him when he says we won’t be tempted beyond our ability. We are to lean on him, for it is only in him that our race will be run with clarity as opposed to aimlessly. It is not for us to ask questions, but rather to get up, raise our drooping hands, strengthen our weak knees, and make straight paths for our feet (Hebrews 12:12-13). We work because God is at work in us (Philippians 1:6; 2:12-13).
Sin Shouldn’t Reign Over You
Ultimately, we can endure everything thrown at us by the world, the flesh, and the devil. This we can do because, as God’s children, we know we cannot only approach him, but we can also rest in the knowledge that he will hold us fast to the very end. God has provided us with a means of escape, and that is to do everything for his glory through his Son. May we never assume that we have no options but those that lead to sin. God has given us the power not to fall. Therefore, let us do everything in our power to take heed.