Neville Goddard on 1 Corinthians 9:7-9 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 1 Corinthians 9 in context

Scripture Focus

7Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

8Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?

9For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

1 Corinthians 9:7-9

Biblical Context

These images—warfare, vineyard, and flock—illustrate that inner labor yields outward fruit. The Law teaches that God cares for the inner worker; you must not muzzle your own harvest or deny the fruit of your imagination.

Neville's Inner Vision

Consider these lines as a map of the inner life. The warfare Paul mentions is the ongoing drama of consciousness, the mind’s struggle to believe in what it cannot yet see. The vineyard and the flock symbolize your imaginative enterprises and the thoughts you tend each day; you eat of the fruit and drink the milk of the harvest only when your imagination is fed by the feeling that what you seek is already yours. The law quoted about not muzzling the ox who treads the corn speaks to the natural law of your own consciousness: your inner worker must be allowed to partake of its harvest. Doth God take care for oxen? He does, for the ox stands for the very instrument of your creation—the I AM within you. When you align with that state, assume the fulfilled condition, and dwell there in vivid stillness, you are feeding your own mind and, thus, your world. You are not asking someone else to provide; you are becoming the I AM by which provision flows.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled as if it is already real, tasting the harvest your inner labor has produced. If doubt rises, revise gently: I am the I AM, and God takes care of me; I do not muzzle my inner ox.