We’re excited to have devotional thoughts from Jennifer Epperson this week! You can learn a bit about her on our contributors page.
About five years ago, I was having a conversation with someone about how hard it is to see Christian young people pursue relationships with non-Christians. My oldest daughter, who had just turned five, decided to give her perspective. “If you get caught up with a boy, just look to your finish line,” she said.
I was shocked to hear sage wisdom come from the mouth of my child. There’s truth in her words. Single women, if you’re interested in someone, look to your finish line. Is he headed in the same direction you are? Is he pursuing God’s will? Is he running a race set before him by God, or is he headed down a self-made path? Is he looking for the easiest route, or is he looking for the Lord’s route? Before you commit yourself to run life’s race with someone, you must make sure you are in the same race.
It is easy to “get caught up with a boy,” get tunnel vision, and lose sight of anything else that matters. In 1 Corinthians 7:7,8, Paul writes, “For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I.” He explains in verse 32-35, “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: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”
Is Paul saying that it is sinful to marry? No. Elsewhere he explains that it is better for some people to marry. Paul is saying that it is easier for unmarried people to focus on the Lord, because they are not distracted by their desire to please their spouses. What does this mean for those of us who marry? It means that we must seek the Lord’s will as we select a spouse. When we “careth. . .how [we] may please [our] husbands,” it would be great if those husbands were men who cared about what pleases God.
When you “get caught up with a boy,” just make sure you are both headed toward the same finish line. That starts with you. Run with patience the race that God has set before you. “Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of [your] faith,” and you will be headed in the right direction. If you are running His race, then you will be sure to find a partner who is running it as well.
My daughter’s words are still a source of conviction for me. Mothers, we must make sure we are training our children to look toward Jesus as they run life’s race. It is the only way to stay on the right path. And we can’t train them properly if we aren’t running toward Christ ourselves.
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