Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn 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. 

1 Corinthians 7: 27-31

As I drive around Cincinnati I see many distracted drivers. Sometimes I am one as well.  I’ve missed my fair share of exits while thinking about something else or talking (hands free) on the phone. Just last night, I missed a turn while taking Patrina to her office to pick up a file.

It may be easy to be distracted for a moment, but Paul wanted the Corinthians to avoid any distractions that interfered with the message of the Gospel because Paul perceived the “appointed time has grown very short.” Paul lived with an expectation of Christ’s imminent return and it affected his outlook on life. He was willing to eliminate all distractions for the sake of the Gospel. Still, he never condemned those who chose to marry and have a family.

Paul’s emphasis is on a life that embraces the importance of the Gospel in this life with an eye on eternity. What if we approached our life decisions with the same type of focus?