November 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

1 Corinthians 7:24-35

²⁴Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.
²⁵Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
²⁶I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.
²⁷Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.
²⁸But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
²⁹But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
³⁰And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;
³¹And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
³²But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
³³But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
³⁴There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
³⁵And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

Devotional:

As Paul continues in verse 25 he turns again to the single person. He reminds the Corinthians of the distress in which people were living at the time of his writing, and expresses his conviction that, to escape such distress, a young woman might well remain unmarried. This follows what he has been saying in verses 20 to 24.

This is the burden of verses 27 and 28, also. In whatever state you are, Paul advises, remain that way. To be married will be an extra burden. Of course it is not sinful to marry, but the extra involvements with the things of this world which necessarily come along with marriage will have a tendency to hinder the Christian in his performance of the work of the Lord.

We who are married and have children know how true this is. Often it seems that our days are so completely filled with the absolute necessities involved in the care of a family that our time with God is neglected. Paul is a realist. He sees these difficulties and so he writes to the Corinthians in this vein. We are not to shed our marriage and its responsibilities! On the other hand there may be occasions when to remain unmarried is God's will for the individual.

Do you think this is all very impractical in the 1980's? Do you think it is merely interesting historically but not pertinent to us? Well, maybe that is true in our country today, but the day may be coming when we, also, will have distressing times such as the Corinthians had. Surely in some parts of the world this is true today. Remember, too, that it is necessary to understand the background of these matters so that when Paul or other Bible writers are attacked because of their views, we may be able to give an explanation of their rationale and point the sceptic to God's all-embracing plan and purpose for His creation.