This verse inspired yesterday’s study, and continues to be our focus for today: “Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah” (Micah 5:2a, HCSB).
“You are small.” God isn’t impressed with size. Yes, a healthy church is a growing church, but it’s not about the numbers – it’s about the people. The Biblical goal of every physical church body is to teach, train, encourage and strengthen BELIEVERS, who are the spiritual body of Christ. It is then the BELIEVERS’ jobs to go out beyond the confines of the physical church and witness and win the lost and bring them into the fold.
Maybe you think of yourself as “small,” insignificant in God’s big picture. Child of God, nothing could be further from the truth! May I share with you a passage of New Testament Scripture that addresses this very issue? First Corinthians 1:24-29: “…to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. Brothers, consider your calling: not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. Instead, God has chosen the world’s foolish things to shame the wise, and God has chosen the world’s weak things to shame the strong. God has chosen the world’s insignificant and despised things – the things viewed as nothing – so he might bring to nothing the things that are viewed as something, so that no one can boast in his presence.”
I hope you’ll read this passage through several times and really let it sink into your heart. “God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” Of course, Paul is being facetious in even suggesting that God has “weakness” – He doesn’t. Which is the whole point. We who are equipped by God through faith in His Son and the subsequent indwelling of the Holy Spirit are strong as long as we are depending on Him and not ourselves.
And what about those of us who don’t exactly consider themselves to have the I.Q. of a genius? Look how Paul says you’re equipped: “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.” Another tongue-in-cheek statement. There is no “foolishness” in God! You are equipped beyond your wildest imagination – all you need to do is pull out that equipage and use it!
Know why I’m so sure of this fact? The Bible says so! And this is a good spot to add the adjoining verse, First Corinthians 1:30, one of my favorites: “But from Him [that is, God the Father] you are in Christ Jesus, who for us became wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”
Talk about being fully equipped – just look at what you received when you received Jesus: “Wisdom.” And not just any ol’ smarts, but “wisdom from God,” along with “righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”
Precious one, the moment you were redeemed, your equipage began; and it continues throughout your lifetime as you pray, read your Bible, study His Word, regularly attend a Bible-believing church and live your life as the hands and feet of Jesus along your pathway.
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