But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.
Summary: Paul’s words in this passage bring to mind the parable of the Prodigal Son.
This verse is profoundly blunt and deadly serious.
Over the centuries since Paul wrote his epistles, people have wrestled with his words, trying to understand what he meant. The challenge Paul presents us with in this verse is at or near the heart of many theological discussions and theories.
This author takes the view that the Bible is God’s message to humanity, crafted over centuries, primarily by the descendants of Abraham, a people chosen by God specifically to shepherd his Word for the peoples of the world.
How did God manage to do this?
When asked this question, I defer to Isaiah 55:9 —
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways [i.e., God’s ways] higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
In short, some things are beyond our understanding.
At any rate, I am content to take God’s Word for it: God’s Word is God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:15-17). When Paul writes, “But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives,” I hear God speaking.
So what does he mean? Why does God’s Word have this ominous message in it?
As I think about this, my mind is drawn back to Jesus’ explanation of the tares (a.k.a. “weeds”) and the wheat (Matthew 13:36-43). In his explanation, Jesus says that he is the one who “sowed the good seed” and the devil is the one who sowed the “weeds.”
He doesn’t say when this sowing happens, but from God’s point of view, the “when” doesn’t really matter (Psalm 90:4). Our lifetimes are a matter of minutes or seconds in God’s sight, so it is not a question of God having to wait to see what happens; he knows.
When God’s Word says, “But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives,” it echoes the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). When the son leaves home to live for pleasure, his father says he was “dead” (v 24). When the son returns repentant, the father says he is now “alive” (v 32).
Paul’s words are a stark warning to anyone who puts pleasure before God. We do well if we acknowledge God’s wisdom and warning.
Application: Live for God, not self-pleasure.
Food for Thought: What does it mean to be “dead” while we are still alive?
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