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I am using readings from the 49 Week Bible Challenge as the basis for these devotions. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are 1 Corinthians 3; Job 5; Psalm 94; Numbers 31.
1 Corinthians 3:16-23
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
I remember the feeling, the event, and where I was sitting when the reality and truth of 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 made its way into my heart. It was in the fall of 2000 at King of Kings Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Our PLI collegeal group was visiting this mentor church as part of our PLI training experience. They were hosting that same weekend their Courageous Congregations conference, and we were invited to attend.
I had expected 200 or more people to be there. But there were far fewer people present. The staff, presenters, worship leaders never blinked. They didn’t apologize for the smaller-than-expected crowd. They just gave what they had. It was enriching.
I remember more, however, the kairos moment as we sat there soaking it all in. PLI was for many of us an experience of church envy. We visited many large and successful Lutheran churches. They had large staffs, signature ministries, and impressive facilities. We pastors would look at them and think, if only I had a large staff, such a deep talent pool, and the resources they had! It was envy pure and simple. We would even talk about it and repent of it. But it would snake its way into our hearts (at least into my heart).
But sitting at a round table with 6 other pastors and experiencing that moment, I realized: All this is mine. Ours. Christ’s. God’s. I could envy or I could enjoy the blessings of the moment in that place. I even stood up and said something to that effect to the whole group.
Maybe you struggle with envy – that green-eyed monster. Shakespeare speaks of it in these words:
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on.
Jesus warns against it:
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts… envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
But Jesus is also the answer to envy. We must realize it’s all his – everything – and that we are all stewards of all we have and everything we experience. Envy is evidence of a heart turned from God. We must simply believe, remember, and trust that God is enough. His love envelopes us. His grace saves us. His mercy attends us. We are his. And that is enough.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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