Maybe I’ll just finish out 2 Corinthians in the manner I have fallen into over the last couple days, i.e., noting selected verses that stand out in my mind from so many years of reading the Bible and listening to it taught. Let’s start with: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully . . . for God loves a cheerful giver” (9:6,8). And, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (9:5). And, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (9:17).
And the Lord’s words to him in regard to his thorn in the flesh: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. . . . For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (12:9,10). And, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (13:5). It’s just sort of amazing, I think, how often we quote from this epistle, and maybe, we don’t always realize it.
Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
Take my hands . . .
Take my voice . . .
Take my lips . . .
Take my silver and my gold . . .
Take my will . . .
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee,
ever, only, all for thee. -- Frances Ridley Havergal (1874)
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