The scripture for today, September 16 (9/16), is 1st Corinthians 9:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”
The Apostle Paul said this. An Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, said almost the same thing in 20:9: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in! Indeed, I cannot!”
Are we so full of the Word of God that we have to share it?
I knew a lady once who took several church bulletins with her every Sunday. Then during the week, if she heard a conversation at a bus stop, she’d interrupt them and say, “I couldn’t help but overhear you. Perhaps God in your life would help.” Then she’d hand them a bulletin. She’d do the same thing at a fast-food place like McDonald’s, or in the waiting room of a doctor. She could not hold it in. She had to share, even if it was with strangers.
Today, tell someone God loves them. Some people have never been told that. Some people need to hear it again. And you? Do you need to tell it because you cannot hold it in?
“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands….’ “
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ “
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living IN YOU, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives IN YOU.”
“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “
“There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”
“He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.”