Devotion 14

Why Date? - Devotion 3

II Corinthians 6:14

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? (NIV)

In yesterdays devotion you could make an argument that we should just go to a mail order service, pray and then marry whoever is sent. Why date?

In fact, my great grand father did this. He lived in the Dakotas. He was busy working, but knew he should get married. He asked that the people back home send someone from Detroit for marriage. They did and my great grandparents managed to stay married life long. Wow! Are you kidding!? It happened!

What about dating? Is there any biblical reason to do it? It obviously is not required for marriage. The answer comes in that even biblically we are to know the person we are marrying. The Bible says that a Christian should not marry a non-Christian. How are you going to find out if the person is a Christian? The way we do it today is on a "date?"

You see one of the greatest burdens for a Christian would be to live with a non-Christian. It is like a donkey being yoked with a oxen. The donkey will never pull its share and the cart will go in circles. It is better for both to be Christians and for the cart to be pulled straight forward.

What is my advise? If after asking if the person believes in Jesus and practices their faith in church they say no, then this is grounds enough to stop dating. You can be friends, you can share Jesus with them, but don't "date" a non-Christian, it could lead to great trouble.

The other reason for dating is to get to know their personality. Learn if you can stand being around their good and bad habits. If nothing else you may gain a friend: Find out about other areas of their life. Ask what they believe about family, about friends, find out how they treat other people? The idea is to find out if they truly practice their Christianity. Imagine marrying and find out if someone just claimed to be a Christian and then beat his wife, verbally swore around them and even used drugs. Be wary, many will claim to believe just to get love. Take some biblical advise from Jesus, "Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers." Luke 6:44 Dating is meant to get past this.

Prayer: Provide me with believing friends, aquantances, help me to recognize faith in those whom I date. Be with those who don't know you and raise the dead to life forever with you. In Jesus name. Amen