1 Corinthians 7:32-40
32 I want you to be free from the concerns of this life. An unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord’s work and thinking how to please him. 33 But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. 34 His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband.35 I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.
36 But if a man thinks that he’s treating his fiancée improperly and will inevitably give in to his passion, let him marry her as he wishes. It is not a sin. 37 But if he has decided firmly not to marry and there is no urgency and he can control his passion, he does well not to marry.38 So the person who marries his fiancée does well, and the person who doesn’t marry does even better.
39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord.[j] 40 But in my opinion it would be better for her to stay single, and I think I am giving you counsel from God’s Spirit when I say this.
On Saturday I was speaking at a men’s breakfast and we were discussing why people turn up or don’t turn up to events at church. The man who I spoke to said, it is not a problem of busyness, there will never be more hours in the day or more days in the week. It is all about priority. Ultimately, you always make the time for what value the most.
Paul seems to be spending a lot of time talking about marriage and whether you should stay single or not. However, he is not really particularly concerned with relationships, he is concerned about priority. For him, there is nothing that is more important than doing the will of God.
When we planted soulcity church in 2017, we had just saved enough money for the deposit for a house. Through hard work, the generosity of family and a few other factors, we were there. However, we had no budget to get this church that we believed God wanted established in Stockport up and off the ground. So, we took our savings and gave them to the church. It was not a loan, we knew that we would never get them back. It was a different kind of investment. We told each other that you can not take bricks to heaven and we have never regretted that decision.
You can not take your career to Heaven. You can not take your car. You can not take your coffee machine. You can not take your golf clubs. The only things that will last eternity will be the people that you reach. These things are not in any way bad. It is just all about priority. You can spend your life fighting for things that are temporary and will be gone in the blink of an eye. Let’s make what matters most, matter the most.
