August 13, 2025

Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:1-24

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 31:1-13; 1 Corinthians 7:1-24

“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.” (1 Corinthians 7:17a)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

These words are so great because they make me immediately bristle and feel defensive. In my Western-culture, independent, sinful mind, I want to immediately self-justify and argue. “The life that the Lord *assigned* and that ‘God has called him?’ Nah. I worked for my life. I matter because of what I can do. I choose and decide what and who is included in my life.” 

Okay, perhaps it’s true that God made me and, yes, He gifted me with talents and abilities…but my works still count…right? Ugh.  

Independence is ugly. When we strive so hard to prove our own worth, value, relationship status, or self-defined identity through *our* works or choices, we are truly chasing after an unattainable goal. The reality is that no one is independent on their own; dead things can only be dead. No one has earned their worth before God. All fall short. All need to be rescued. 

In truth, these words, and this whole section in 1 Corinthians, are amazing. Paul speaks about vocational gifts and teaches us that within them, it is best to focus on the Giver of these gifts and the mercy through which He gives them. Are you married? Thanks be to God—love your spouse and care for them. Are you single? Thanks be to God—serve the neighbors you have been given. Rest in the gifts that God has blessed you with. Don’t covet something different. Don’t despair of your life; live it as the gift that it is. The Giver is the One Who sent His perfect Son to die on the cross in your place and give you forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

Does my independent sinner-self still want to cling to my works? Do I still think I want something different? Yeah. And yet, God in His mercy gifted me with Baptism. In my Baptism, I daily repent of my sin, drown the Old Adam, and live as the new creation God has made me. The Holy Spirit works in and through me to recognize the abundant Gifts that God has given me and also to look at the neighbors in my life as gifts. Has God assigned me a life and called me? Yep. It is beyond comprehension that He would care for, rescue, love, forgive, and redeem sinners. And yet, this is truly what has happened. We get to rejoice in our dependence and look to the Giver of our lives, gifts, neighbors, and vocations. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit Our works and conduct have no worth. God in His love sent our Redeemer, Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth; His death did for our sins atone, And we are saved by grace alone. (LSB 566:2)

Deac. Sarah Longmire, Bible study editor for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

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