treasuring God – practically

In my last post, I wrote about God as the single person’s inheritance and the opportunity we have to make God our treasure. But really, that idea is not new. Anyone who has been single for any length of time after the age of 21 has heard this. We are pointed to 1 Corinthians 7, which outlines the single person’s ability to be “wholly devoted” to the Lord without the distractions inherent in married life. And we’re often told that our singleness is a gift.

And yet, most of us still feel like we’re getting a bad deal. At the very best, we tend to see singleness as a waiting period where we hope God will do some good work in us until we get the lifestyle we really want.

Now, again, I don’t want to denigrate the desire for marriage–most single people will eventually get married, and the desire to do so is good, natural, and sometimes holy. But surely the vision of 1 Corinthians 7 is something greater than enduring a trial! It’s a vision of active devotion, whole-hearted service, and treasuring of God.

May I suggest that living out that vision requires something more than lip service from us?

It’s all very well to say that God is our treasure and we are single to be wholly devoted to him, but do we act like he is our treasure? And are we taking advantage of what Paul says are the blessings of singleness–that is, are we actually living toward God differently than we would be if we were married?

I’ve been asking myself these questions recently because frankly, I don’t think I have been. And it’s striking me that if I don’t invest in my relationship with God in a unique way through my singleness, then it’s not surprising if I don’t find my relationship with him particularly fulfilling or fruitful.

So I am trying to make some changes. For example, as a single person, I have a lot of discretionary time in the mornings and evenings. I’m trying to use much of this time for prayer and Bible reading. I want to treat God like a husband in this respect: as someone I spend alone-time with, listen to, and learn how to honour at all times through my actions, words, appearance, etc.

I’m also trying to take a good hard look at my finances and see how I can use them to invest in God’s kingdom–after all, I don’t have a family to support, so I’m able to do this perhaps more than a married person could.

I am not doing any of this perfectly. But I am finding that as I get active and deliberate about being wholly devoted in my singleness, singleness begins to look more like the calling and gift it is–whether or not it’s temporary.