Philippians 1:22 KJV
But if I
live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I
wot not.
The apostle was in a prison
at this point in his life. Some scholars believe he was subsequently released
and continued his ministry for some time before he was again arrested and
executed. While I have some strong personal motivations for hoping that is so,[1]
the Bible doesn't give any evidence that it actually happened. Paul may or may
not have been released from prison to return one more time to Philippi.
The point I want to stress at
this time is that, whichever way it went, Paul was perfectly willing to leave
that in the hands of the Lord. Not knowing which way to choose, he left this
choice in the hands of the Lord.
This in no way implies that
Paul was wishy-washy or double minded. Just three verses down he speaks of his
confidence. But confidence and assurance in no way means that we always know
which way is the best way.
· Sometimes we have no choice
· Sometimes we have a choice and make the wrong
one
· Sometimes we just do not know what to choose
Only God knows the beginning
and the ending therefore those sorts of choices are best left to God
alone.
[1] It gives Paul opportunity to travel and preach in the British Isles,
supporting my belief that the apostolic gospel was preached there before the
end of the first century - and giving credence to an unbroken chain of
non-Catholic, non-Protestant churches all the way back to the Apostles.
No comments:
Post a Comment