Microwaves And Beer

But I want you to be without care.  He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord - how he may please the Lord.  But he who is married cares about the things of the world - how he may please his wife.  There is a difference between a wife and a virgin.  The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in both body and spirit.  But she who is married cares about the things of the world - how she may please her husband.  And this I say for your own profit.  not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction.
1 Corinthians 7: 32 - 35 NKJV

My life is pretty damn simple.  I wake up at 5 am every morning, get ready for work then go and give my eight hours.  When it's all said and done at the end of the day, you'll probably find me at my local gym putting more work in.  Not too terribly hectic of a life.  Is mine the life of the typical Christian bachelor?  Probably not, but I'd venture to guess that it's pretty close nonetheless.  Do I care about the things of the Lord?  Indeed I do, it's a big part of my life.  Do I care about the things of the world?  Absolutely!  I'd say that Paul's words describing the married and the unmarried in 1 Corinthians are pretty spot on, to a point.  Like I said, I still find myself worrying about the things of the world.  I also have friends who are married who's lives don't seem to adhere to Paul's writings.  Go figure.  For the most part, I will write of only my own experiences.  In my opinion, I have no idea where Paul came up with his definition of the married and unmarried.  Each of us, in our own way, is going to be burdened by those things we fret over.  That's just a part of life.  We're told that Jesus counseled Martha when she was all too worried about those preparations {Luke 10:40}.  In His sermon on the mount, Jesus again tells us of the dangers of worry {Matthew 6:25-34}.  So, we're in good company in that department.  Despite my own worries of day to day living, it seems that I'm able to keep my thoughts on the Lord as well.  I really don't think that God differentiates that much between married and single people.  However, I have my own opinions on that.  A few words that you will NEVER hear a single man utter are "yes dear, you're right, dear" or "I'm wrong."  I catch my share of joking from my married friends about how uneventful my life is, and perhaps they're right.  While they're running from place to place handling the responsibilities of two people, I'm sitting in front of the tv drinking a beer.  Well, not really, but you get the point.  I will say that they have their things to worry over, and I have mine.  Not that one is greater than the other, it's just that the decisions I make aren't made for two people.  That, in a nutshell, is the difference on being married and being single.  Would I ever trade in my single mans card for a marriage license?  Perhaps, but only with careful consideration of the consequences.

And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
Genesis 2: 18 NKJV

Honestly, that decision of remaining single is not in my hands but in Gods.  Indeed, there is a helper out there who is comparable to me...and that's what scares me sometimes.  Look at it from my perspective, I've been single for so long now it's almost like a lifestyle.  Can you imagine what my married friends would say if I suddenly had to give up my care free lifestyle?  No more tv!  No more beer!  All of a sudden I'd be turned from a independent, care free man to one whose thoughts all of a sudden were upon someone else's needs and not my own.  It all seems like a pretty drastic transition to me.  How would I act?  Would I be able to endure the "I told you so's" of my married friends?  Indeed, life as I now know it would definitely change.  However, I honestly feel that were I to suddenly join the ranks of relationship bound men, I would somehow endure.  I'm resilient, I can improvise, overcome and adapt with the best of them.  Besides, how much different can married life be to what I'm living now?  Yeah, I know, the famous last words of the condemned.  Yet, as the scripture says, it's not good that I should be alone.  But, alone is all I've known until now.  I'm not one to question my Lords judgement, so I will ride this wave as far as it goes.  So far I'm enjoying the carefree life of microwaves and beer.  Despite what my married friends say, I see nothing wrong with being accountable but to myself.  Honestly, at times I feel as if they too long for those days again.  Although I know that they wouldn't change a thing, I'm sure they still think about it at times.  For the time being, I'll be that example of how a single Christian man lives.

~Scott~