The Devotional

Papa J's rules for Livin #169

You have heard it said; That there is a time and place for everything under the sun. But there is a better place where time ceases to exist! Revelation 21:22-27

When fighting fires it is good to have singleness of mind. Your mind cannot be distracted by by letting fear control you and you cannot focus on things that are not essential to safety. Your mind and thinking must be clear. Any distraction can be deadly or harmful to you or those around you. Before I became qualified as a firefighter and I think it was the first very big fire that I went to, a barn was burning and I was assigned to the outside in a wooded area to knock down any fire that threatened to catch the woods on fire. Several trees were burning and a team of about five of us were moving from tree to tree. The problem was is that we were in the path of the fire because of being downwind. Tree after tree lit up and our radio communication was not working. I was sent to get more help and as I moved closer to the burning barn the smoke became so intense that I could not see. Since I did not have an air pack my breathing became labored and I felt the panic gaining control in my mind. I thought about running, that would be a mistake, keep calm I said to myself. Then I said, someone else should be doing this not me. Maybe that younger guy who doesn't have a wife, he should have done this, not me! I even thought I was going to die and about that time, someone's hand grabbed hold of my bunker coat and pulled me out of the smoke. Clear fresh air was just a foot or two away. At least two problems are evident here. One; I was not qualified to be where I was. Two; I was distracted in my mind from the existing danger.

1 Corinthians 7

1 Corinthians 7:25-40 Many pastors avoid passages like the one we are in, or they pick and choose the topics that are less of a struggle to share. If I were ever critical over this, I take it all back. These are most difficult. Not because of the tough spots of interpretation, but because of the personal areas that are touched on by the apostle Paul. And what makes things even more difficult is that at the end of the chapter, he says, almost as an afterthought, “Oh, by the way – I think I also have the backing of the Spirit of God in this.”

The apostle is very bold about having singleness of mind in serving God in that the distractions of the everyday world will take us from a fully devoted, personal relationship with the LORD. I am sure he is correct and if you have been saved for any length of the time you know this is true as well. So, I believe that the one thing on Paul's heart is not legalism as some have suggested, but stewardship. If I compartmentalize my relationship to the LORD, I will never find the time to serve Him as I should.

Having concerns for a wife or a virgin, of being married or unmarried, of devotion to duty or devotion to the LORD, of pleasing the spouse or the LORD. All of these are issues of life, and there are many that separate us from the singleness of mind that we should have with Jesus our LORD. If we fail to put Christ first in our life, the distractions of life will overcome us. But as we should all know that if we sanctify Christ as LORD in heart first, then our suffering through these issues of life will be in the right spiritual perspective that God has ordained for all of us. 1 Peter 3:13-17.