Episode 553

TODAY’S READING

17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. 18 Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision but keeping the commandments of God. 20 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called.

1 Corinthians 7:17-20

These verses are extremely interesting to me as I was reading today; I have been in use in a period of my life where I’ve been thinking about my life story, that testimony, and what has happened in previous years. I just turned 29, And so next year I turn 30 And I’ve been thinking about how I can remember my 15th birthday as if it was yesterday. And every day, I think about the 15th birthday because I am Cuban; it was a huge thing. It was my Keynes’s, and so that at this point is almost like the mid marker of my life so far. And it’s crazy because time continues to fly, so I think about the last 15 years; my testimony is in those last 15 years or 14 years. As I grew and things happened, the recession came into the picture my house caught fire. My dad struggles with addiction. I graduated college; that was a high moment in my life. But at the same time, I had some low moments in the house; we lost the home, our family home; we had to move to different cities in different directions. My mom lives in Nashville. My dad still struggles today.

He’s a lot better. Thank you, Jesus. But if you were with me in December, you knew it was a hard season. So I look at my life and how it goes up and down. But God called me in 2016. I got the call and my heart. I found a church, and I devoted my life to him at that point. And what this verse is saying is that if anyone was at the time of their call, wherever they were, they don’t need to go and try to fix what they came from. So if you were circumcised, for instance, you don’t have to go back and try to remove the markings of your circumcision. Or, if you were not circumcised, you didn’t need to go and try to get circumcised to please God. 

He called us exactly where we were, exactly who we were. And it’s just a reminder that your past was assigned to you, and it says here at the Lord has it says only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him. To which God has called him. He knows your past. He knows your testimony. He knows where you came from. He knows what you looked like before you met him. He’s not asking you to eradicate that person. That person is part of your testimony. That person is the proof that God is who He says He is. Because when people know you for who you were, it’s hard for them to see the person you are today. But the person you are today is a testimony of where God brought you from and His goodness and where he has gotten you too. So don’t be ashamed of your past. Don’t try and hide the markings. 

Don’t try and fix the past. Embrace the past, embrace what God assigned you, the life that he assigned to you, and embrace the grace and the ability to live a new life as we are a new creation in him. So I thank you, Jesus, for everything for all of it. We all do.

Prayer:

Father God, we thank You, Lord; we thank you for our past. Every single one of us has a different past, and different ups and downs throughout our lives that encompass who we are. We all have a day that marks us, from who we used to be, who you had us in or the season, and you, had a say in the life that you had sinned and who we became once we got to know who you are your goodness. We thank you for that because it is our testimony that proves your goodness when people remember us for who we were and see us for who we are today. They can see how you have worked in our lives and through us, and so we are thankful that we can be a vehicle for your goodness; we thank You that we can be a testimony to other people. For your goodness, Lord. So us us us our story. Let us not be ashamed of our old scars and our old wounds but let us embrace where you had us so that we can only prove your goodness to where you’ve brought us. We thank you for this beautiful Wednesday; we ask that you keep us in your palms, and we ask that you bless us as we continue with our days. We love you, and we pray this all in your son’s Mighty Name, Amen.