Our greatest take-away in this passage is that Paul refers to the rock that Moses struck as Jesus, but there is more for us here. We, too, often need to be reminded of our spiritual neglect, of our sin, of our failure to live out our true identities in Christ.

The message Paul communicated to the Corinthians applies to us as well. We are not alone in our failings. We are not the first who have acted so foolishly, and until Jesus returns, we will not be the last. We, too, are called on to learn from the failings and faithfulness of God’s people who have gone before us. We are not to study the Israelites in Exodus or the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians with contempt, but rather with humility, recognizing all of us are in desperate need for God’s grace – not just unto salvation, but throughout it as well.

• Who are some individuals or people in Scripture or church history you can learn the most from?