1 Corinthians 7:29-31What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
With the war in Ukraine in the headlines, and people’s lives being taken, it might be time to pause and reflect on our priorities. As someone who spent a career in uniform, with friends and colleagues still serving, the news of war is not a welcome one. It is not an easy way for those who are deploying; they don’t seek conflict. They seek peace.
But it can be easy as we go to Starbucks and pay $5 for a cup of our favorite, to forget those whose lives are at risk today. Unfortunately, the true “one percenters” are those who have served in the Armed Forces, not those who are immensely wealthy. And those 1% people are my family.
Our text gives us Paul’s perspective, and probably the perspective of much of this first century church, that time was short before Christ’s return. Paul didn’t want the believers in the city of Corinth to coast aimlessly through life. He wants them to remain focused on Kingdom things. But his perception of their progress was that they were losing focus.
His advice for them was simple: don’t hold too tightly to anything that will pass away. Don’t allow the events of this life, even painful ones, to distract you from God’s purposes. Don’t allow the stuff of this world to get too great a hold on you. Own it, but don’t let it own you.
But this can be very difficult to do in real, everyday life. How do you navigate in a world designed to draw us away? It can be tough to do.
One way that Scripture affirms is thankfulness. When we have the “attitude of gratitude” we tend not to hold too tightly to these temporary trappings. We acknowledge the temporary nature of these relationships and things, and acknowledge the permanence of our relationship with the LORD.
There are men across the country who during sports seasons love the first of these examples. They want to live as if their wives aren’t connected to them. (Except they still want meals, clean laundry, and the kids kept quiet.) All kidding aside, we can put too much trust in our spouses to the point that we trust them more than we trust the LORD.
We can get so caught up in mourning loss, that we get sucked into the vortex and forget about the others who are also affected by the loss. We can become ineffective in our lives if any emotion takes precedence, even happiness. So many have happiness as a goal, as an objective to be maintained, that when it is gone, so goes their faith.
Paul tells us that time is short. Even almost two thousand years later, time on this Earth is short. Our lives are measured in years, not decades or centuries. And it is over all too soon. But time is short. It is for me, and it is for you.
The question is, how are we going to use the time we do have? What will our priorities be? How can we be in the world, but not of the world? How do we pass through without holding too tightly to it?
That is the challenge of humanity. Living with our priorities correctly aligned to Kingdom priorities is a lifelong pursuit. It requires dying daily to our own desires and continually surrendering to His will.
The Arnold Journey 