Monday Devotional: January 15, 2024

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (NRSVUE)

²⁹ I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, ³⁰ and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, ³¹ and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

In today’s passage, Paul references the expectation that Christ will come again soon. Upon Christ’s return, the greater reality of God’s final judgment and the fulfillment of God’s salvation will overshadow the concerns of the present circumstances. When Christ returns in final victory, marriage, grief, joy, possessions — anything of the Corinthians’ present existence — will no longer hold the same degree of sway in their lives. Thus, Paul urges the church in Corinth to proceed toward the promise of an eternal reality that supersedes present circumstances.

Whether Christ’s return happens tomorrow or in two thousand more years, Paul’s teaching remains valuable for us today. We inventory our lives and ask, “What of this will last? What will come of my daily investment of time, energy, and resources in particular relationships, emotions, and experiences? Do my current circumstances point me toward an eternal reality or to an ephemeral one?”

Viewing our lives in this way does not mean we deny the gifts of our relationships or focus so much on the hope of Christ’s final victory that we ignore the work of the Holy Spirit in this very moment. Rather, Paul encourages the early church and us to participate in our present circumstances while knowing a definitive reality is yet to be spoken in our lives. In so doing, we will find that our relationships, emotions, experiences, and resources are placed within the larger context of a God who will make all things right forever. We too can proceed toward the promise of an eternal reality that will not belittle our life; instead, this eternal reality will supply our life with its fullest meaning.

Prayer

No matter what I am dealing with right now, help me, O God, to see my life within the context of your eternal work in me and the rest of creation. Amen.

By Any Persons Parkes, The Upper Room Disciplines 2015, page 35.