1 Corinthians 7:32-40 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord… I. BY AVOIDING THOSE STATES WHICH INVOLVE CAREFULNESS. Take, e.g. — 1. The question of marriage. Paul bids Christians, in the first place, not to marry. (1) But that was a time of persecution. The Christian man who had no family could flee in a moment if it was right to flee, and if caught he had not to think about his wife and fatherless children. Paul wished the Church to be like an army which is not encumbered with baggage; his own consisted of half a dozen needles and a reel of thread. He was thus without carefulness. (2) But to-day the circumstances are decidedly different, and we are to follow the principle rather than the particular instance. I have known brethren who had a great deal more care before than after marriage, and who served God better in the married estate. That is the rule to judge by. But numbers of you never judge at all in this way. Many men and women rush into marriage when they know that it must involve them in all sorts of care and hinder them in the Master's service. 2. Increased worldly business. Now, if you can serve God better by having a dozen shops, have a dozen; but I have known persons whom God blessed in one shop, and they lost the blessing when they opened two or three. When invited to take their part in the Lord's work, they replied — "You see, I cannot get out," or "I am so tied." But as the disability is entirely of your own creation, how can it excuse you? Do not fill your pocket at the expense of your soul. God can prosper you and make you happy with a more manageable business, and he can make you miserable if you wilfully increase your cares. Remember how Napoleon tried to do too much, and did it, and did for himself. 3. Public engagements. Everything which concerns man concerns a Christian, and God never wished His servants to leave the government of this realm to all the place-hunters who look for a seat in Parliament. To abandon law-making to the worst of men would be infamous. So with everything which concerns the public weal. But let the rule be — first God, and then our fellow-men. Ye are the servants of God; do not make yourselves the Slaves of men. 4. Occupations prevent attendance at the house of God. When a young man with a moderate salary, and the whole Sabbath and some week-evenings to himself, is offered twice as much in a place Where he must be shut out from worship and service, I hope he will look long before he makes the bargain. For Christians, the best place is where they can do most for Jesus. II. BY KEEPING AWAY FROM THOSE PURSUITS WHICH NATURALLY FOSTER IT: 1. When a man makes the gaining of riches the first thing in life he cannot be without carefulness. Where his treasure is, there will his heart be also. 2. If you live with the view of gaining honour among men, you will be full of cares. To please everybody is as impossible as to make ice and bake bread at the same moment in one oven. 3. Those who are ambitions to be very respectable will never be without carefulness; they have a pound coming in, but they spend a guinea. Some have a favourite object in life — not God; and these cannot be without carefulness. Dear mother, love your children by all means, but if that little one has become an idol, you cannot be without carefulness. Lots of children have suffered a martyrdom from too much nursing, and excessive carefulness has created cause for care. If anything else becomes the hobby of life, a horse, a dog, a flower, a painting, it will entangle you in nets of care. III. BY EXERCISING A CHILDLIKE FAITH IN GOD. He sends you troubles and trials, but be without carefulness — 1. By never trying to anticipate them. Never meet them half-way. Commit your way unto the Lord, and then be without carefulness. 2. By being quite content with the Lord's will. Do your best and leave business, health, friends, &c., in the hands of God. 3. By being quite sure about the love of God. He cannot make a mistake, and He cannot fail His people. If the worst thing, as it seems to us, should happen, it must be the right thing, because God has sent it. 4. By believing in the power of prayer, and in the fact that God does actually answer it. 5. By giving all our thought and care to this one object — How can I live as Christ would have lived? You never find Jesus worrying. (C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: |
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