Is it profitable?

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

1 Corinthians 10:23 KJV

²³ You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. ²⁴ Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.

1 Corinthians 10:23 NLT

This is a question that I've been asking myself constantly with regards to everything that I do in my life. It's a question that was placed upon my heart and in my mind as it was emphasized by a lot of the people that inspire me in Christ before the year even began.

Sometimes as people we have certain things that we do. There may be certain habits, routines or relationships that we have. And sometimes there's nothing wrong with doing those things or being involved in them other than the possibility that they are a complete waste of your time. There's nothing particularly wrong with doing those things or being involved in them as we see Apostle Paul says that "all things are lawful". However, they just won't be profitable. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of profit. Every aspect of our lives should be profitable. Our health should be good, our friendships should be good and our business should be good.

It could be something as simple as the amount of time you spend watching TV, or the amount of time you spend having meaningless conversations with people over the phone. It could be the food that you love so much but is so bad for your health. It could be that friend that you care for so dearly who really is just so toxic for you. God won't stop you from watching TV, eating that food or being friends with that person because we have the power of choice but at some point we all have to ask ourselves if those things are bringing any spiritual, emotional or tangible value to our lives. That time that you are spending being a couch potato could be the time that God wants you to dedicate to prayer, the time that he wants you to right down your business plan, the time that he wants you to minister into that person's life who told you that they weren't okay. But nah, we wanna go out with the boys😂 and trust me there is nothing wrong with that but there is a time for everything. If you look at your life and there are areas that you can see need improvement then work towards improving them and start prioritizing accordingly.

I feel that this is a very make or break stage in my life as well as for a lot of the people I'm surrounded by. A lot of the things that I'm investing into be it spiritually, emotionally, relationship wise, business or academically have to be done intentionally and deliberately without just floating through life and it really does start with the small things such as the ones that I mentioned before. It doesn't even have to be that deep.

Then we get into the deep things. The things that the Bible actually tells us to stay away from. Paul is telling us go ahead fam😂BUT... is it profitable? A lot of people like to say that the Bible is "unclear" on certain things or that it could have "further explained". "The Bible has been translated through the years so I'm sure some things weren't stated correctly". I feel this generation of Christians is actually very blessed guys. Like I mean we have God himself, we have Jesus, we have The Holy Spirit and we have the Bible as well as many people that are inspired by Christ to guide and help us in our walk with him. Yet we still like to say such things. Moses didn't have a Bible guys😂 actually let's not even look at Moses cause he was chosen of God so he atleast was able to have a relationship with God. Let's look at the simple Hebrew slave who had to depend on Moses' faith to be delivered out of the hands of pharaoh. A way to God hadn't been created, they didn't have Jesus or the Holy spirit. Very few people were able to talk to God directly. So a lot of the time people had to depend on the people God had given them to even know about him. Yet look at all the amazing things Moses and all the people who were chosen of God in the Old Testament did. Just by being able to have a personal relationship with God. By being able to listen and allowing God to work in and through them.

Our relationship with God is a progressive one the more we seek him and make time for him through prayer and reading his word. Something that you may like doing today you may not like so much tomorrow due to conviction. There are some things that you will not do as a Christian not because they are wrong but simply because you don't see the need to. Nobody has told you not to do them but as you grow more with Christ you just see that they aren't a prioty and don't help you in any way. 10 people can read 1 story from the Bible and each one of them will get something different from it. The Bible reveals, it has so much. You just have to meditate on it and not just read it like how you would read any other book. When you reach a point where you can say you have a personal relationship with God you should be able to hear, feel and see God. God speaks to us differently based on how he sees best. You can see God even in certain situations that seemed impossible to conquer but you did, that's seeing God. You feel his presence when you're worshipping or just taking a walk.

And because of this I believe that God is not a God who leaves us hanging. There are times when we read something from the Bible and we don't understand it immediately, but God is God who  reveals his word and brings forth wisdom and understanding. God meets you at the point of understanding, that is where your miracle lies - my dad taught me this. He who seeks wisdom let him ask for it (James 1:5). King Solomon was the wisest man to ever live but he didn't even have all the things that we have.

Let us not be spoilt Christians. We are not entitled to all the things that God freely gave to us. We did not deserve Jesus. God could've kept him there in heaven all to himself but he let him come down and delivered us from sin while creating a way for us to have a personal relationship with God without needing to depend on another person's faith in order to know God. We have the Holy spirit who is with us everyday. He is a friend, a comforter, a protector, a teacher, a mentor etc.

I encourage us to all reassess our lives and to look at the things that we prioritise. Because they are all lawful but not all are profitable. 

Thank you for taking sometime out to read this. 

God bless