Lectionary for 8/13/08

Today's readings are 1 Samuel 31.1-13 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Sam.+31.1-13 ) and 1 Corinthians 7.1-24 ( http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Cor.+7.1-24 ).

 

1 Cor. 7.1-24

 

Ah, marital bliss!  It's a good thing indeed to be married, to care for the family God has blessed you with, to nurture them in Christ, to live and work together.    Yet how many times have we heard the beginning of 1 Corinthians 7 used to glorify singleness.  Verses 8-9 seem pretty conclusive at first glance.  "To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.  But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry.  For it is better to marry than to burn with passion" (ESV).  And to the single person this seems a very powerful argument.  Maybe it is better not to get married.  Maybe all those people we know who are married are secretly living in disappointment and anger.  And sadly, for some of those people it isn't too much of a secret.    So the options we are left with are to exercise self-control or to marry if we absolutely have to.

I'd like to propose an alternative scenario.  Marriage is a good thing.  It is the human institution established by God.  It is very very good.  Yet our Lord has not made everyone to marry.  There are some people who can and should remain single.  And they know they should remain single because they don't have the desire for a marital relationship and all which is entailed in that relationship.  There is no biblical mandate for everyone to marry.  Many Godly people have not married.  For that matter, Jesus himself never married.  It is not required that everyone marry.  But the vast majority of people do have the desire to marry and should marry.  So we do not sin by marrying and we do not sin by not marrying.

What is our status in life?  Are we married?  Let us stay married.  Are we single?  Let us stay single and glorify God.  In whatever state we find ourselves in Christ we may bring glory and honor to God.  Does this mean we should never desire a change in our circumstances?  Not in any way.  See how Paul says a slave who finds he may be freed should seek to be freed.  It's a better circumstance.  Likewise, if we wish to marry, there is nothing to prohibit it.

So what about those married people who are secretly living in disappointment and anger?  No doubt there are some of those, but there are many more married people who are delighting in their marriage.  Whatever our state, let us learn to delight in it!