Every so often, like to take myself away from my desk, just me and my Bible. I like to read the Word. Not really because it is the Work (yes, work) of God, but because it just makes sense. I mean, when was the last time you read something that was written thousands of years ago that made as much sense today as it did then? Did you know that the Bible is the only book of its age whose Author is still alive? I, sorta, digress.

Anyway so there I am. Just me and God. I have been reading 1 Corinthians lately. I like Paul's letters because he wrote to people who did some good things for the glory of God, but at times slipped up. Paul was quick to praise them, but equally as quick to warn them against heading down the path they were on. It almost sounds like Paul was writing to me. Yeah, okay, he was, but I bet he didn't know that! But that is beside the point. Okay, so me, God, Bible. Are we together? So the passage that struck me was 1 Cor 10:24, "No one should seek his own good, but the good of others." (NIV) I like the NKJV, "Let no one seek his own, but each one the others well-being." Now, each of us has probably three or four people who genuinely care about our well-being, enough to jump in and counsel us on what we are about to do and the affect that decision may have. Now, sit back, close your eyes and picture your church. It may be a grand house of worship with hundreds of people in the congregation on a given Sunday. Or it may be a small, intimate, close-knit community of believers; maybe 60 or 70 folks. Now picture each face, if you can. Imagine if that person lived up to the standard of 1Cor 10:24.

Let me it another way. We live in a selfish society. We are obsessed with "I" and "ME", to the extent that we simply do not care what happens to the other guy or gal. We have trite slogans like "looking out for #1". We think that if the "I's" don't do it no one will. So, to put it on a personal level, I have one person looking out for me. Me, if I live to the secular way of thinking. Now, imagine those 60 or 70 people or the hundreds looking out for our well-being. Caring, pure and simple, what we do, how we live, WHO WE ARE! Let's do the math. Which is bigger, me looking out for me or the members of my congregation looking out for my well-being. (multiply by 4, carry the 1, divide by the circumference of Disney World, and add pi) Well, according to my ultra-super-scientific calculations the answer is B.

For those reading this, let me say that I care and love each of you. There aren't many times when I don't think of you and pray for you and your families. As for the Pi? I like pecan.