ANNNNND BOOM! We’re back, just like that! Yes folks, welcome back to part 3 of this Singleness to Marriage series. I’m so excited for today’s article, because hopefully, it’ll be the last article on singleness. But, I’m also excited because today I am going to introduce you to our forebparents, Adam and Eve. Before we get to the introductions, let’s review a little.
Review
In part one, we found out that the ‘It’ everyone’s looking for (which is definitely not Penny Wise), is Love. Then we posed a question that really ensembles singleness for Believers: where has love gone for the Church? We found the answer; we aren’t focused on God, (which was revealed in step two), and went through the first two steps to answer the posed question. In all actuality, step one told us how I got the answer to the singleness in the Church question, and step two revealed the answer. Really, it’s not until step three (part two of the series) that we begin to figure out how to deal with this singleness and staying focused on God.
Part two we began with step three and went into detail of the three how’s contained in this step. The how’s give us direction, they point us towards the way of life God intended for us as single Believers. The first how proposed was about recognizing our calling which is steepled in servitude. We moved onto the second how, and learned that in order to answer the call on our lives from God, we must submit to His will and accept His will. I mentioned that sacrifices would have to be made, and used my writing career as an example.
If you’ve missed all that and you’re just joining us, go ahead and click here to read the first two articles in this series. Now, let’s move on to today’s topic: answering the final how of step three!
Step Three: answering the how’s continued:
how 3: How to walk in my calling
Alright so, if you remember from part one, we actually talked about how important answering the call of God is when we discussed being focused on God. With that knowledge, we know it’s vital to submit to God’s will. When we decide to rebel against the order God has set for our life’s path, we begin to walk in disobedience which is like the third ultimate offense to God. The first is the rejection of Christ, and second is the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit, and thirdly, the resistance, rebellion, and/or disobedience to God and His plans. Obedience is so important to God because disobedience was the sole reason we’re not in the Garden of Eden right now. Incredibly, obedience is the reason we’re on our way to eternal life with God.
Side Topic: The Importance of obedience
I have to stop right here and go over the importance of obeying God. It’s truly the only way we’ll be able to understand and accept God’s will, and one of the greatest ways to support how to walk in our calling.
We’ll start with Adam and Eve, finally. And let me tell you guys, once we go down this road, there’s no going back! Adam and Eve’s story will literally be tied into everything else in this journey (Dating, and Marriage).
Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Some say Eve was deceived, which is the truth, but the deception is not an excuse for disobedience, not then and certainly not now. And I say that with great emphasis because back in the Garden of Eden, though Eve had been deceived, she was still punished because she knew the commandment of God… I almost jumped into something there, but I promise, hold onto your arguments about Eve’s knowledge of God’s command. I’ll prove to you she was given the same commandment about the tree as Adam once we reach the dating and marriage portion. For now, hang tight and bear with me.
Going back to what I was saying, Eve was deceived and then punished. So, if she was punished why wouldn’t you be? Many people think deception is an excuse for wrong doing or bad behavior, but I’ll tell you the truth about deception: every person in the world knows right from wrong. And if you’re not sure, ask God.
And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
2 Cor 3:3
Walking in obedience is walking in your calling
So we understand that we have a sin nature, correct? It derived from the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Now, naturally, meaning in our natural bodies and in the way of the natural world, it feels most correct to do what’s opposing to God. There are two reasons for this, and I just explained the first, but I will clarify.
Reason 1: Adam and Eve’s Disobedience
Our desire to oppose God comes from our fore parents, which I already said. But being easily deceived with subtly is the real problem. If something looks even remotely stunning or eye catching to us, we run to it, despite what God thinks. If it means we’ll have our way, we allow ourselves to be deceived by the glamour of the world and give into what it’s offering us. People make eye contact across the room on television, and the next thing you know, the scene cuts and the two people are rolling around in bed. A subtly glance led to sex. A subtly change in words led to the entire world’s downfall.
Reason 2: Opposition to the World
It is so hard to obey (for most) when we have to take a stand. I have seen “Christian” celebrity after celebrity cave under the pressure when they’re posed with one little question: is homosexuality wrong?
Look at the way that question is proposed: is homosexuality wrong? Because they’re implying (there goes the subtly) that this question has the same weight as asking someone is tying your shoes with bunny ears wrong as opposed to the wrap around method. But the homosexual question is totally loaded with all it implies. (Have you all seen the Iron Giant? When Kent Mansely says, ‘and all it implies’, it’s hilarious!) Despite the implications (ahem), this question is easy to answer: Yes, homosexuality is wrong. There’s no such thing as any gender (or whatever) other than a man and a woman, and the only right and honorable relationship is between one man and one woman.
What’s foolishness to the world, is wisdom to God. And what’s wise to God is foolish to the world (1 Cor 1:18-27). It seems crazy to pay tithes before your rent to the unsaved, but to us, who are truly saved, it makes sense. You owe tithes because every dime we get is from God. It’s like a tax. Every time we get paid, we get taxed. Every time God gives us money, we tithe. There’s security in tithing, whereas in the world’s system, there’s no security. But I digress…
So, one may ask, aye Bean (see what I did there, ha! My name’s A. Bean), how does any of this have to do with walking in my calling?
Easy dub! Is what I’d say in response.
If you’ve recognized your calling, answered your calling, then walking in your calling only requires obedience. Jesus was called to die for all of us. When He wanted to stay with the disciples, it was His obedience that broke the chains off of our sin nature. So we’ve got the discipline to serve and obey God, it’s a matter of actually doing it.
Walking in your calling means being fully engrossed in the plans of God. Paul gave up everything to follow the plans of God. David became King to follow the plans of God. Jesus gave up His life to follow the plans of God. It all lies in your obedience to that calling. So if you’ve been called to sing, belt out the praise and worship. Release an EP, start a YouTube channel. If you’ve been called to be a doctor, go to medical school, find the medical field God wants your doctorate in. Walking in your calling means forsaking everything else to follow God.
Closing Remarks
This one was a long one, but I promise, it’s all helpful. Until we meet again, I want you to really begin to focus on what you’re calling is from God. How has he called you to serve? And don’t shy away if you know He’s called you to be a billionaire working at Space X. That’s alright, the money is just for you to fund the Kingdom, and it doesn’t make you evil. Remember that God called Abraham, and He went totally dependent on God. Moses in the wilderness, totally dependent on God to walk in His calling. And that will bring us to step four of Singleness: Depend on God.
I won’t go into it to much, but step four discusses what it really means to depend on God, and how we have to train our eyes to look away from the darkness of the world. We can’t covet the world, compete with them, and expect them to provide us with happiness. None of that goes together. The only real way to get ahead in life, to move from level to level in the Kingdom, is by solely focuses on God, and being totally dependent on Him.
