Blog entry 12/14
1 Corinthians 7 – marriage was the EXCEPTION, not the rule. Staying single was the STANDARD expectation and exhortation spoken. Marriage was only suggested by Paul if there were “EXTREME CASES” where a man could not control his lusts. So if everyone is getting married (or desiring marriage) today, what does that say about our lusts (passions)… ? Mind you, like Paul cautions, if someone marries, it is NOT a sin. However, like he admonishes, “those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that”-1 Cor 7:28.
Paul is aware of the urgency of the times and just wants us running as hard as possible, as light as possible, to save as many as we can. God has offered the Kingdom to this world, but then states that the Kingdom is within us; thus, he has offered us to the world. Our life is no longer our own, so we cannot waste it on civilian affairs. LIVES ARE WAITING TO BE REDEEMED by the fragrance of Christ that God has placed in our earthen vessels. So my encouragement today is just the same as Paul’s, check to see where the urgency of your heart really is. Even though it is God’s pleasure to give us marriage if it is our heart’s desire, it says something about our spiritual character if we’re panting after “the troubles of marriage more than the suffering of missions.” Of course, I am preaching this to myself also. If you find yourself frequently consumed with the thoughts and desires of marriage, ask God to give you an increasing passion and burden for the least, lost, and lowly. You cannot change your heart, BUT YOU CAN PRAY to God who changes hearts :-)
I pray our hearts will be so ablaze for the Kingdom so that whether or not we marry, our lives, relationships, and children will be poured out for the sake of the cross alone… to the very last drop.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
p.s.*******THIS IS NOT AN ANTI-MARRIAGE NOTE (I MAY get married one day :-)
4 comments:
Disclaimer before I get attacked:
YES... Paul was seeking to call out a people from a system (Corinth), that was so hard to live in as a Christian... he was not anti-marriage, just doing all things necessary to redeem the times. And I too always believed you had to be 'called' to singleness, but this passage helped liberate me to see that I CAN CHOOSE singleness out of my desire to run harder after God, if it be for just today, a season, or a lifetime.. God will honor it even if He didn't "call me to it" (Like Ms. Ruthie once said).
So this was just to encourage others that I know have been having similar conversations with God. This note is not telling anyone not to marry, it was to encourage those battling with the idea "Do I have to be called to singleness, and if so, how do I know?" .... to show another point of view: You do not have to wait on an intense-Paul-like-Damascus-road-experience... just seek His kingdom hard and the passions will fall in place after (marraige or no marriage).
Like Lou Engle says "If the apostles and prophets of old had to go through such depth of preparation, how about the end-time generation"?
Word!
That's BIBLE [whats up]!
Funny story - - I read this passage to my wife once a few years back (during an argument)..... way wrong thing to do.
Let's just say the her -AND GOD- dealt with me there.
HAHAHA!!! Yes... I can see that going a bit.. uhm... salty..
Thankfully, good wives, AND the Lord, prune those they love :-)
Thats really encouraging! : ) Amen sis
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