A Word about Putting First Things First

 

 Today I want to share a word about putting first things first, as I comment on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. This Scripture reads:

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you--unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Follow the Proper Order in a Recipe:

I am not a good cook. In fact, I really can’t cook at all except for breakfast. When I was young, my dad would cook breakfast on Sunday mornings before church, and when I was a teenager I began to help him. I quickly found that dish that I cooked the best was hominy grits.

Grits as a food are a blank canvas. By themselves they are almost tasteless, but when properly seasoned, they can be very tasty. The key that I have discovered for preparing good grits is simple, but essential: you must add salt to the water BEFORE you boil it and BEFORE you add the grits.

It may not matter when you add the ingredients or the spices in the case of many recipes, You can just toss everything into a pan or bowl, add the right amount of heat for the right amount of time and, voilà! You have a masterpiece of a meal to serve. On the other hand, this is not true for many, even most, recipes, and it is certainly not true in my experience preparing grits. To me, there is no substitute for salting the water before adding the grits.

You may think I am crazy, but I believe that I can always tell when someone has failed to salt the water properly when cooking grits. I don’t think the salt can properly infuse the grits if you wait until later to add salt or only add salt when the grits are served. I am convinced of this fact, and you can’t tell me otherwise. 

Sorry! I am just a grits snob, I guess!

Follow the Proper Order in Serving God:

What does this have to do with our focal passage for today? Just this: Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthian Christians got the order correct in their minds and hearts. To Paul, it did not matter what you added into your spiritual life if, at first, you didn’t embrace the Gospel. The Gospel was essential, and it came first!

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul discussed the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the work of the church.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul discussed how you can be a very gifted person, but that you’d essentially be useless without embodying God’s love.

In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul discussed how you can be expressive in worship, but without God, all that would do is confuse people.

In our passage today, Paul took the Corinthians back to the core and essence of their faith, the Gospel, and reminded them without having the salvation of Christ all of the other things he talked about meant nothing. Paul taught firmly and directly that unless we embrace the Gospel first, we are hopeless, helpless, hapless, and, in truth, harmful to ourselves and others.

Conclusion:

If Paul was here addressing us today he’d tell us to put first things first! The Gospel must be first in our lives, or we will be as tasteless as unsalted grits. To be the the salt of the world we first must be infused with the Gospel!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt