Full Devotion

DEVOTION

1 CORINTHIANS

FULL DEVOTION

1 Cor 7:32-35

32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs — how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world — how he can please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world — how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. 
NIV


Although it is true there is some sense of a divided concern, it is still a God given concern. Paul also gives instructions as to the responsibilities of both husband and wife, in fact that leaders of the church should be the husband of but one wife, this would mean an unmarried man could not be a leader of a church for he would not be a husband of any wife. So what is this talking about, that neither man nor woman should be married so they can have an undivided devotion to God? The key here is that Paul is saying this for the good of those who lived in Corinth. It may not be for general use, that is, for all believers. There was a certain situation in that church and Paul was speaking directly to them and them alone, or perhaps to other churches that were and maybe having the same circumstances. The case of staying single for undivided devotion to God has some merit for all people, however we know that is not the plan of God for His creation. Although it is true that a single person has no one else to be concerned about other than themselves, they can only be members of something. A married person has family, has posterity, leaves a legacy, has influence over the lives of his own kin, so not only does a married person have influence in the body of Christ, he also has influence in the world. It may be easier for a single person to dedicate all his efforts toward serving God, not being distracted with the responsibilities of family, yet we still have to understand that God desires that we should not be alone, that we should have family. Yes, Jesus never married, of course He was God, and how could God marry any human? But Jesus was born of a human and God told Joseph to go ahead and marry Mary. He wanted Jesus to be in a family. He could have just should up one day as the Savior of the world, but no He came into a family. We have to see this was Paul talking just to those Corinthians. Yet we should also see that we need to be devoted to serving our Lord and Savior. Even as families we should be devotion together for the one cause of being devotion to God. And this should not only apply to our human families, but also the all of us as the family of God. There should not be division among us as brothers and sister in the Lord. As members of the Body of Christ how could we ever be single? We are forever united in Christ as one, just as He and the Father are one. And as such we are forever interdependent on one another having concerns for one another as if we were among family. We have to see these comments by Paul, as inspired by God in the context of the whole dissertation about what was going on in Corinth. Although all scripture is profitable for our instruction, correction and rebuking, so we can see that we need to stay clear of the kinds of things that were going on in Corinth. We need to always be focused on the things of God. We need to devote ourselves to Him fully.