Will We Wipe Them Away?

I awoke this morning and the word that was on my mind was 'offscouring'. I read a bit and looked at a few things but this word kept coming back. The Greek word translated 'offscouring' is only used once in the new testament. It is Peripsema (Strong's G4067) and it is used here.

"Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." - 1 Corinthians 4:13 KJV

Some things are kept but other things are wiped away. This speaks of the stuff that is wiped away.

This is that verse in context using a more modern, but reliable, translation...

"For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children... I urge you, then, be imitators of me." - 1 Corinthians 4:9-14, 16 ESV

Paul identifies strongly with the other Apostles. He had his disagreements with them but that didn't stop him from identifying with them. He even made collections for the Saints in Jerusalem (see 1 Corinthians 16:1).

Grace elevates and promotes people. It does not wipe them away. Yet, It happens all the time. People wipe others away to put a shine on their new life.

In America we live in a society where people wipe away the older generation to make room for the newer one.

I am so thankful God does not consider me as someone to wipe away like a grimy smear. Really I am.

Who does God remember that I have forgotten? Prayer will reveal the answer. I want to love them like the Apostle Paul loved people. I want to write them, or the modern equivalent of it, like Paul did at great expense to himself.

It is easier to compartmentalize our lives at times so we can go forward... to lighten our load. But who is it that carries our burdens? Is it us or is it God?

The Apostles are people most believers will want to meet when they are Heaven but when they walked the Earth it seems that they had few real friends. Perhaps we can befriend some people who are well known in Heaven but forgotten on the Earth.

Help us God. It can't happen without You. We need You. Fill us with love. Open our eyes. Cause us to move on the narrow pathway loving and serving others because You love and serve us.

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