November 30 - 2 Corinthians 6:14-10:18

Good morning everyone,

Today’s reading began with, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.” Here Paul is not merely warning the Corinthians about a potential danger but instructing them to stop an action already in progress. If I had to pick one solid piece of wisdom, that is aside from the obvious “be in prayer and God’s Word every day,” to pass along to a young Christian, it would be; Do not surround yourself with, team up with, form a partnership with and especially do not marry an unbeliever. It would be a mismatch, that may weaken your Christian commitment causing you to compromise your integrity, your standards and even your morals. You would be unequally yoked.

A yoke is a wooden bar that joins two oxen to each other to share the weight of a particular task. Use your mind’s eye to see this. An “unequally yoked” team has one stronger ox and one weaker, or one taller and one shorter. The weaker or shorter ox would walk slower than the taller, stronger one, causing the load to go around in circles. If one is sickly and one healthy, it won’t work, if both are headstrong and want to go different directions it won’t work either. If one is mature and one is not grown yet, again, it won’t work. When oxen are unequally yoked, they cannot perform the task set before them. Instead of working together, they are at odds with one another inevitably dragging the stronger one down. 

To draw the parallel, when someone who is alive in Christ allows themselves to be yoked with someone who is dead in the world the relationship will at best go in circles but history has proven that more time than not the Christian, just plain and simple, gets worn down and ends up abandoning the narrow road which requires awareness, discipline and hard work for the easier wider road chosen by the world leading to certain death.

Do not misunderstand me. We are absolutely to be out mingling, so to speak, in the world spreading the Gospel, winning hearts for Jesus. We just should not ever, no matter how much we love or trust them, join together in any kind of a contract with a non-Christian. Also …. Hear me on this. Also, I am in no way saying end your marriage if, you while married, accept Jesus as your Savior and your spouse hasn’t yet. No! Stay married! In 1 Corinthians 7:13-15 the Bible is very clear on that. Continue to show your spouse the love of Christ and pray, pray, pray daily for your spouses’ salvation. Try not to get discouraged when your prayers seem to go unanswered. Just keep praying and watching. God is listening and will respond in His time. God’s plan is perfect, so let your prayer be, “I trusted in you, O Lord, You are my God,” and believe God’s got it handled. Amen?

Have a good day and to God be the glory.

God bless you all …..