Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 2 Corinthians 9-10
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 18
Key Verse
2 Corinthians 10:2 — “But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.”
Devotional Thought
Paul is writing to the church at Corinth about a collection for the impoverished believers in Jerusalem. The Macedonians had already given generously, and Paul had boasted to them that Achaia, Corinth’s region, had been ready a year ago. Now he sends Titus and two unnamed brothers ahead to make sure the gift is actually gathered before he arrives, so no one is embarrassed when the Macedonians come with him. The apostle is not strong-arming anyone. He quotes the farmer’s proverb—sow sparingly, reap sparingly—but immediately guards the heart: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” The gift must be ready as a bounty, not extracted as a tax.
Then the letter turns sharply. In chapter 10, Paul answers critics in Corinth who say his letters are weighty but his bodily presence weak and his speech contemptible. Some were measuring themselves by themselves, comparing themselves among themselves. Paul refuses that game. His weapons, he says, are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds—casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. He is not fighting people; he is fighting pretension, pride, and self-promotion that masquerade as ministry.
Psalm 18 gives this warfare its soundtrack. David, delivered from Saul and from all his enemies, sings: “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer.” He describes the very earth shaking, God bowing the heavens and riding upon a cherub, sending arrows and lightnings to scatter his foes. Then comes the tenderness: “He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.” The God who thunders is the God who stoops to pull a drowning man from the flood. David’s confidence is not in his own strength but in the One who delighted in him.
It is February, the cold, gray stretch of winter when resolutions have thinned and spring still feels distant. This is a good season to examine our giving and our fighting. Do we give cheerfully, or only under pressure? Do we battle with carnal weapons—sarcasm, manipulation, self-comparison—or do we pull down strongholds through God? The same Lord who drew David from many waters is able to make all grace abound toward us, that we, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. He does not need our grudging coins or our clever quarrels. He asks for hearts that purpose freely, and thoughts taken captive to Christ.
Reflection
- When you give—of money, time, or attention—is it done as a cheerful bounty purposed in your heart, or grudgingly and of necessity?
- What “high thing” exalting itself against the knowledge of God in your thought life needs this week to be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ?
Prayer
Lord, You are our rock and our fortress, the God who heard David’s cry from His temple and drew him out of many waters. We thank You for Your unspeakable gift, the grace that makes us sufficient in all things. Teach us to give cheerfully, not grudgingly, sowing bountifully and trusting You for the increase. Pull down every stronghold in our minds—every proud imagination, every comparison, every self-commendation—and bring each thought into captivity to Christ. Deliver us from fighting after the flesh, and let our lives provoke thanksgiving to You. Be our stay in the day of calamity, and bring us forth into a large place, for we delight in You. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 18:1 — “I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.”