The Knee Jerk Devotional

January 30, 2024

Psalm 35:1-10; Numbers 22:22-28; 1 Corinthians 7:32-40

Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash

One of the things that I really like doing is spending time reading in The Message. The reason for this is that it often opens my eyes to familiar passages in different ways. It gets me to think about them differently. I really need this because I have spent so much time thinking about the Scriptures from a theological angle that to have my normal perceptions jarred is so helpful.

Today's reading, for instance, 1 Corinthians 7:32-40 is all about Paul's teaching on singleness and celibacy. This passage has always lead me into a million questions about marriage, singleness, etc...

Reading today in The Message, there was this translation of verse 32:

I want you to live as free of complications as possible.

It jolted me.

I stared at the line and it dawned on me that perhaps Paul's heart in this section was just that, he was calling people to consider how live lives that are free of complications so as to limit the things that demand our attention.

Could it be that that is the principle here? Is it possible that is the core of what Paul is talking about and using marriage as an illustration, while also sharing his opinion?

I think it might be.

So this then leads me to what I'm thinking about today, “What are the complications in my life that are taking away my attention from what matters most?”


Discuss...

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