Undivided Devotion

Now that we’ve considered what not to spend our time on in the single season (“the present form of the world”) we come to the first great deal of the single season. You probably noticed it in 1 Corinthians 7:34-35:

“And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord” (emphasis mine).

Free from the anxieties attendant upon marriage and family, you have the opportunity to live for the things of the Lord, to pursue undivided devotion to Him.

You have “a unique calling and a unique responsibility” insists pastor John Piper:

“It is not a calling to extend irresponsible adolescence into your thirties. It is a calling to do what only single men and women in Christ can do in this world, namely, to display by the Christ-exalting devotion of your singleness the truths about Christ and his kingdom that shine more clearly through singleness than through marriage.”

For a greater understanding of these truths you are called to display, you can read Piper’s sermon “Single in Christ: A Name Better Than Sons and Daughters.”

But first ask yourself:

What does my singleness say about Christ and His kingdom?

Is my life one of Christ exalting devotion?

Am I anxious about the things of the Lord or the things of this world?

Is holiness in body and spirit my highest aim?

Undivided devotion is cultivated through reading God’s Word and prayer (Ps 86:11), and it comes with the promise: “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). Undivided devotion to Christ is, by far, the best deal of the single season.