Devotional 9 January 2026

January 09, 2026 • Steve Torres

1 Corinthians 9:7.jpg

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:1–13, ESV)

Paul reminds the Corinthians that the people of Israel were not outsiders to God’s grace. They were redeemed from Egypt, guided by the cloud, passed through the sea, fed with manna, and given drink from the rock. Paul goes so far as to say, “the Rock was Christ” (v. 4). These were not merely symbolic experiences; they were genuine acts of God’s saving presence among His covenant people. Yet, despite these privileges, “with most of them God was not pleased” (v. 5).

This history is not recounted to entertain or to shame, but to instruct. “Now these things took place as examples for us” (v. 6). Paul is clear that the failures of Israel were written for the church, especially for those “on whom the end of the ages has come” (v. 11). Living in the last days does not mean careless indulgence or fearful panic. It means sober attentiveness. The closer we stand to the fulfillment of God’s promises, the greater our responsibility to walk faithfully before Him.

Paul names the sins that marked Israel’s downfall: idolatry, sexual immorality, testing the Lord, and grumbling. These are not merely individual moral lapses; they are expressions of hearts that presumed upon God’s grace while resisting obedience. The Corinthians, confident in their knowledge and freedom, were in danger of repeating the same mistake. So Paul warns, “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (v. 12). Assurance is not the problem; presumption is.

Yet Paul does not leave the church in fear. He anchors his warning in the faithfulness of God. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful” (v. 13). Temptation is not unique, overwhelming, or irresistible. God does not promise the absence of trials, but He does promise a way of escape, a path of endurance that leads to faithfulness rather than collapse.

The writer of Hebrews makes the same argument: if disobedience under the old covenant brought judgment, how much more should we give careful attention to the salvation revealed in Christ (Heb. 2:1–4). Grace does not relax obedience; it deepens it. Because we live at the end of the age, we are called to learn from the past, to walk humbly without presumption, and to trust the faithful God who sustains His people through every trial.