“… thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:57-58)
This letter represents the third visit Paul made to the Corinthian church. The first visit was to establish the church, the second was to deal with various problems within the church and now this third visit was to deal with spiritual arrogance among other things. Here Paul is telling the Corinthians not to become weary of doing good in the name of the Lord. God will give us the victory when we hold firm to our beliefs and convictions. We shall be rewarded in heaven for our steadfast faith and belief for through those characteristics we shall draw many into the kingdom. Paul is sharing the one true gospel and wants the Corinthians to not give an ear to false teachings, which promote another way, perhaps an easier way to heaven. There is one way to heaven and it is through the blood of Christ. Otherwise, it negates the reason for and the results of Christ’s death altogether.
The fact that we are told to be immovable doesn’t mean that we should stop moving. Rather, we should continue to move forward remaining immovable in our faith, belief and trust in God. Let’s use Sumo wrestling, of all things, as our illustration. When two Sumo wrestlers meet, their sole purpose is to move their opponent outside the circle within which they compete (see note below). Like the Sumo wrestler, we as Christians are to hold our ground and not be pushed off our mark. We need to understand that anything we do for the Lord is not done in vain. God recognizes our efforts for He is the One who has enables us to accomplish these things. There is nothing we can do of any eternal significance that we can do on our own. It is only through God that we can do these things. We are to give ourselves fully to the service of the Lord knowing that someday we shall receive our reward in heaven. Our reward will not be one of silver or gold, but eternal life with our loving Heavenly Father.
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
Note: Sumo wrestling is a highly competitive Japanese contact sport involving two wrestlers pitted against each other in an attempt to force one another outside of a circular ring, or to touch the ground with any body part other than the soles of their feet. Japan is the only country where the sport is practiced professionally.
