Day 16 - Next of Kin
Part 1: Rights and Privileges
Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 7:1-7
Focal Verses: A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. ~ 1 Corinthians 7:4 (CSB)
One of the primary responsibilities of a forensic death investigator is to identify, locate, and notify next of kin of every deceased person that comes through our office. In most places (though laws may vary from state to state), the hierarchy of next of kin goes like this: 1) Spouse, 2) Adult Children, 3) Parents, 4) Siblings, 5) Extended Family, etc.
Nine times out of ten, it’s the next of kin that finds the decedent anyway, so notifying them is a piece of cake. Others are far more difficult to track down (due to rifts in family ties, etc) and even more tricky to actually contact (many of these people don’t want to be found). I once had to call the administration department of Disney World in Paris to notify someone of their father’s death). So why is it so important? Why does so much time, energy, and effort go into tracking these people down and notifying them?
Besides the obvious humane reason, the other has to do with disposition of rights from the deceased to the next living family member. The moment a person dies, all property, insurance, debts, and everything else falls on the next of kin’s shoulders. A body can’t even be buried without next of kin’s authorization (unless the deceased is ruled as ‘abandoned.’). No, the moment someone dies, all rights go directly to the spouse. Or the adult children. Or the parents. And so on. (Unless expressly addressed in a will, of course).
In today’s passage, Paul seems to have an understanding of our modern concept of next of kin status. In his address to the Corinthians concerning marriage, he spends quite a bit of time addressing carnal needs and the importance of spouse’s taking care of those needs. But let’s zoom out a bit. Let’s not focus on the carnal here. Let’s not even focus on marriage. Let’s focus on Verse 4 where Paul tells us that “a wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does.” Before any of the Corinthians had a chance to get all stiff-lipped and huffy or haughty, he goes on to say that “husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does.”
These are the ‘rights’ of both brides and grooms. The wife’s ‘right’ is to take care of her husband. The husband’s ‘right’ is to take care of his wife.
In other words, the wife is to die to her own wants and desires. The husband is to die to his own wants and desires. Each are to focus on each other’s wants and desire and needs and both will be taken care better than if they only looked after themselves!
But here’s the thing: this isn’t just about spouses. It’s not just about next of kin. It is a picture of how all Christians should live. The moment we became followers of Christ, we died to ourselves (Colossians 3:3: For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.).
Guess what. Jesus Christ is our next of kin. He has all rights and privileges therein. We have died. We now live for Christ. So, let’s apply this to the first portion of our focal verse with a little paraphrasing and see where we stand: We do not have the right over our own body, but Christ does.
What about you? Are you submitting your wants and desires over to Christ? Are you dying to yourself daily? Throughout Scripture, it is clear from the multitude of verses I found with a cursory search that this is the number one component of the Christian faith. In order for Christ to handle the ‘arrangements’ of our lives, He must be given the rights of next of kin. If we trust Him the way we profess to, we should wake up every day signing our rights over to Him and striving, in our own way, to take care of the wants and desires of our Husband, Christ.
Father God, thank you for all you’ve done for us. Help us, Lord, to die to ourselves every day and let you handle the arrangements of our lives. Help us Lord, to hand our so-called rights over to you daily and trust You to provide us with the abundant life you’ve promised.
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