Thursday, January 29, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Corinthians 3-4
Key Verse
1 Corinthians 3:23 — “And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.”
Devotional Thought
The church at Corinth had everything going for it—gifts, knowledge, teachers like Paul and Apollos—yet Paul calls them “babes in Christ,” still drinking milk when they ought to be eating meat. Their problem was not a lack of spiritual resources but a misplaced loyalty. They had turned teachers into team mascots: “I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos.” In the dead of winter, when the holidays are behind us and the days are still short, we may be tempted to look for warmth in the wrong places—in personalities, in the approval of others, in the small kingdoms we build around our favorite leaders or our own reputations. Paul cuts through it: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed?” One plants, another waters, but God gives the increase. The workers are nothing; the harvest is His.
Then Paul shifts images. We are God’s husbandry, God’s building. He warns that every man’s work will be tried by fire—gold, silver, precious stones survive; wood, hay, stubble burns. This is a sobering picture of what we bring to God’s temple. And what is that temple? “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” The local church is not a stage for rival celebrities but a holy dwelling place. To defile it with envy and strife is no small thing.
Paul does not write to shame them, but “as my beloved sons I warn you.” He calls them to follow him as he follows Christ, to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God, and to stop judging before the time. He himself says, “with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you.” His conscience is not the final court; the Lord is. When Christ comes, He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts.
So what does this ask of us today? It asks us to examine where our identity rests—in a pastor, a movement, a reputation, or in Christ alone. It asks us to build carefully, not with the cheap materials of self-promotion but with the gold of faithfulness. It asks us to stop puffing ourselves up over one teacher against another and to remember that “ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” In January’s quiet, let the fire test what we are building.
Reflection
- Where am I tempted to glory in men—pastors, authors, influencers—rather than in the Lord who alone gives the increase?
- If the fire were applied to my work today, what would remain: gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, stubble?
Prayer
Lord, we confess that we have too often built with wood, hay, and stubble—seeking the praise of men, dividing over leaders, and forgetting that we are Your temple. Forgive us. Make us faithful stewards of the mysteries of God, content to plant and water while You give the increase. Let us not judge before the time, but wait for Your coming, when You will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. Teach us to build with gold, silver, and precious stones, for Your glory alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen.