Daily Devotion

Saturday, February 7, 2026  

Today's Scripture
1 Corinthians 2:1–12

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. (NRSV)

Paul begins his comments in this section of his letter to the Corinthians with a description of a spiritual practice — his decision to know nothing except Jesus. He enters the conversation with humility, not with a sense of superiority (superior speech), nor with a sense that his perspective was wiser than the wisdom of his listeners.

Many of Paul’s letters demonstrate classic Greek rhetorical debate style, and he is good making his arguments. It doesn’t always sit well with contemporary readers, but he is good at the style. Here, though, he’s drawing attention to something deeper, something spiritual, something more intuitive and dependent on openness to God and the gift of grace.

What could it mean to know nothing except Jesus? I have to slow down when I read that and think about it. To know nothing except Jesus would mean to be filled with awareness of Jesus, the crucified and resurrected Christ, and our minds would be centered and focused on that Being, that Presence of God.

“I decided to know nothing except Jesus” strikes me as a powerful spiritual practice of reorientation toward safety, trust, creativity, imagination, new hope, new life, and unshakable conviction in the power of God’s love and God’s presence.

No persuading is necessary, no superior speech is needed, when the spiritual experience is powerful like this. Our faith then rests on a visceral experience of the power of the Spirit of God. Yes, that Spirit is within us, and that Spirit reminds us of all that we have been given, all that we are connected to, all that we are part of.

Like a drop of water that has fallen into the whole ocean, when we know nothing except Jesus, we realize that we are part of something much greater than our individual existence. I find comfort and strength in that.

Prayer

God of All Creation, help us to experience the hidden mystery of your Wisdom. Give us the courage to admit our vulnerability, embrace humility, and turn to you at all times. Help us to know nothing except Jesus, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by you. Amen. 

Written by Nanette Sawyer, Associate Pastor

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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