Grace for Your Day March 1

The Dictionary defines singleness as “the state or quality of being unmarried.” It is the state in life either before starting a family or after choosing not to pursue one and it is important because we have all experienced it before. It is an important stage of life because no one is born into marriage. No one starts out being a husband or wife so we all have to be single at one time or another. We all have to go through it.

Some people even decide to stay that way “for the sake of the kingdom” (Matthew 19:12). Some people even have the gift of singleness (1 Corinthians 7:7) and choose to remain that way for the rest of their life to serve the Lord. However, we would all say that singleness is tough. It is not always easy. Several years ago, a group of single people got together to write poems for the Ladies Home Journal to describe the difficulty that they were experiencing. One of the men wrote the following lyrics:

Of all the girls that ever I knew,
I never saw one I thought would do.
I wanted a wife that was nice and neat,
that was up-to-date and had small feet.

I wanted a wife that was loving and kind,
And that hadn't too much an independent mind.
I wanted a wife that could cook and sew
And wasn't eternally on the go.  

I wanted a wife that was strikingly beautiful,
Intelligent, rich, and exceedingly dutiful.
That isn't so much to demand in a wife,
But she can’t be found though I have looked all my life. 
 
While that is funny, it does illustration the point that singleness is hard because it is a time of uncertainty and doubt. It is a time of trouble and misgivings which is why we are going to talk about it this week at Grace Fellowship Church. It will be the focus of our sermon because, as I have been going through this series on the family, several people have asked the question: “What about those who are single?” “What does the Bible say about them?” “We have looked at what it says about husbands and wives but what does it say about the rest of us?”

 It might interest you to know that the Bible has a lot to say about this subject because it is full of single people. For example, Paul was single as were Jesus and all of the Apostles except for Peter (Matthew 8:14-15). So were Mary and Martha and Lazarus. So was Jeremiah and Elijah and John the Baptist. Concerning John, Matthew 11:11 says, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!”

So, if you are single, you are among some good company. You stand among some giants of Scripture and you should be encouraged by that. It should give you some inspiration and that is what we are going to be looking at this weekend.

 The sermon will be recorded on Saturday night and posted on our You Tube Channel for Sunday morning. Please join us and see what the Bible says about this fascinating subject. – Jeremy Cagle