Hello, John and Doves,
It would be a strange thing,
indeed, for a well-respected Rabbi like Rabbi Shaul of
Tarsus to relegate the potentially damning sin of pride
to the unassuming position of "thorn in the
flesh." Rather, it is clear that the "thorn in the
flesh" that Rabbi Shaul speaks of in 2 Thessalonians 1:7
kept him from the sin of
pride.
That being said, we can only
speculate that the "messenger of Satan sent
to torment" Rabbi Shaul had the power to inflict
some sort of pain or physical displeasure--such as
arthritis or hyperopia [the opposite of myopia]--such
that Rabbi Shaul had to write with large
letters [Galatians 6:11].
Bottom line? Any of you
all that suffer from physical infirmities can count
yourself into the upper tier of the brotherhood [includes
sisters by royal decree] of believers. Of
course, it is written,
"And note this:
Some who seem least important now will be the
greatest then, and some who are the greatest now
will be least important then."
Question: Is the upper
tier the "cheap seats, way back--or the balconies up
close??"
Mike C.
_________________________________________________________________________________
George G (28
March 2012)
"Thorn in the
flesh"
I read recently on five doves someone
mentioning Paul`s thorn in the flesh. Some
people have written books about their experiences of being
taken to heaven by
Jesus. I have read some of those books and in one of them
this person met Paul
and asked him what was the " thorn in the flesh " he
mentions in his letters. He
said it was " PRIDE
".
George