Abide
"This is what I mean, brothers: the time has grown very short. From now on... let those who mourn live 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 goods, 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" (1Corinthians 7:29-31).
"This world is passing away." My goodness, is that not true! If I had to render one opinion on my life I would have to say that it is the speed with which the past eighty-six years have passed away. It seems only yesterday that I was young and now I am old. Tempus fugit.
Indeed history is speeding to its consummation, which is what Paul had in mind, but more existential is the realization that our days are "soon gone and we fly away." Therefore we shouldn’t cling to the stuff of this life because it's all small stuff in the end.
Looking back I have to say that the things I mourned and the things that brought me happiness were very small things indeed—passing events that now have no importance. I recall a position I wanted and lost. The loss was quite troubling at the time. Today it has no significance at all.
Paul's underlying concern in 1Corinthians 7 is the unending human quest for "something more," the urge to move up or move on. Paul's counsel is to "abide with God"—find your satisfaction in Him.
"Do you want to be married?" Paul asks. Get married, but don't think that marriage alone will satisfy you. "Do you seek freedom?" (Paul was thinking of Roman slaves.) By all means, gain your freedom if you can but don't think that this alone will cure your anxiety. "Is there something you want to buy?" Buy it, if you must, but tomorrow the shine will be off of that shiny thing. Did you lose out on a promotion? Not to worry. In time you'll see that upward mobility, in itself, is a just another small matter. Do you clamor for beauty and glamor? In a few years they will mean nothing at all. The only lasting satisfaction comes from a life of undivided devotion to Jesus. Abide in him (John 15:4).
Our son Josh has a one word plate on his pickup: "ABIDE," drawn from Sam Eliot’s line in the cult flick, “The Big Lebowski” ("The dude abides..."). Each time I see the truck I think of Paul's simple anodyne: "Abide with God" (1Corinthians 7:24).
I pray that this dude will abide.
David Roper
5.13.19
