Category: 2 Corinthians

Sometimes the things we get too easily are not as precious to us as things we pay a great price for.

My former mother-in-law was a woman who lived through the Great Depression. Things were hard to get and she was the most frugal woman I have ever known. Born in 1910, she experienced hardships unlike any most of us have seen. She had one quirk that I thought was odd. Unlike today, she didn’t get her cats spayed or neutered so she always had an abundance of kittens. All of the family was always on the lookout for kitty homes. But even though she had many of them, she wouldn’t let us give them away. She wanted to sell them! When we said that someone we knew wanted a cat, her response was, “Tell them they are $5.00 each.”

This was crazy to me. Just get them homes! I thought she was being miserly and just wanted the money. One day I’d had enough. “Beulah, why don’t you just let these kittens go to anyone who wants one?”

But her response was brilliant. “People love and cherish what they pay good money for. If they get them for free, they won’t appreciate them and care for them. A few dollars makes the difference, not to me, but for the kittens.”

In our Scripture passage today, Paul is worried about the Corinthian church. Other so-called apostles were preaching a different message and the people were listening to them. Evidently these men were charging a fee and the people were ok with that. In fact, some of those in the church felt like it was the sign of authenticity. Paul knew these were false prophets and he was concerned about them leading the early church astray. But Paul says that just because he didn’t charge them for all his preaching, didn’t mean it wasn’t valuable. In fact, other churches were underpinning his journeys just so he could travel and teach the words of Jesus. The Corinthian church was not placing a great value on Paul’s teaching. Paul wanted the church to know that his words and teachings were paid for with a great price…the death of Jesus.

Prayer for the day: Lord, help us to remember the great cost that Your death paid. We thank You that You were willing to pay it in our behalf. Amen.