When questions about marriage arose, Paul extended his advice for both men and women, married and single. A married person should not end a marriage; an unmarried man should not get married. Paul was advising church members to stay focused on the Lord and on the business of sharing the gospel.
Lest he be misunderstood, Paul explained that he was not saying that it would be sinful for these young unmarried women to get married. Rather, believers must live detached from this world. Those who have been blessed with the things of the world should make good use of them without becoming attached to them. Material blessings can be used to further God’s Kingdom. Believers who have been blessed with material wealth must always remember that they have been blessed in order to bless others. Paul did not want the believers to be “attached” to anything in this life as if that were all there is—to do so would be to forget that this world and all it contains will pass away.
Marriage is a tremendous responsibility for each of the spouses involved. For a marriage to be successful, husband and wife must work at their relationship—they will both have to be concerned about earthly responsibilities and about how to please each other. This is good and important for those who are married. Paul was simply pointing out that unmarried people can focus their energies elsewhere.
The Bible teaches that marriage is a lifelong contract between a man and a woman. The relationship was not to be dissolved for any reason. If the woman’s husband were to die, however, the marriage contract would be void, and she is free to marry whomever she wishes, providing that this person were a Christian so that the marriage would be acceptable to the Lord. This also applied to men whose wives had died.
There may have been some teaching in either Jewish or Greek society stating that a widowed woman could not remarry because she was bound forever to her husband, even if he had died. Paul stated clearly that this was not to be the case. But the widow or widower should still be very careful about whom he or she chooses to marry.
While the widow can remarry, that doesn’t necessarily mean that she should. In fact, Paul’s opinion was that it will be better for her if she doesn’t marry again for the same reasons he said that the unmarried people might think about remaining single.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
While the question for these Corinthian believers was one of marriage, the real issue for them and us today is our focus on the Lord and our relationship with Him. Marriage is designed by God. Marriage is a Holy thing. Marriage is the most important relationship you will have. Yet, it is not more important than our relationship with God. First things first. That is the issues that Paul is stressing.
If you'll remember that was the condemnation for the church in Ephesus. They left their first love. "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first..." Revelation 2:4-5 (NIV)
Lord, today and everyday, help us put you first in our hearts and minds and lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment