Dave's Diary

Prayer

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer:

Almighty God, Your Word is often at odds with the ways of the world. Please help me to accept Your Word as authoritative truth and as the way to life in abundance. Amen.

Reading

Matthew 19:1-6

^{” 6} … what God has joined together, let no one separate.“

Please note that we will read further teaching from Jesus on the topic of divorce tomorrow. For today, we’ll focus only on these six verses, and notice how clearly Jesus states His will. He calls His disciples (that’s us) to honour marriage as a sacred, precious gift from God and to do everything in our power to preserve it.

When the religious leaders asked Jesus the question, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” they were testing which rabbinical camp He was in. At the time there were two schools of thought. One was very liberal and believed that the Law of Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife for any reason whatsoever – even if he didn’t like her cooking. The other school of thought was conservative and believed that it was only permitted in a situation of sexual unfaithfulness.

Rather than start with a direct answer to their question, Jesus went right back to the creation principle, and to God’s original intention with creating humanity male and female. To His beloved children, Adam and Eve, and to all their offspring, God gave marriage as a gift. Marriage was (and is) a God-given, lifelong, covenantal relationship, within which a one man and one woman can safely live in the depth of vulnerability and openness that is necessary for them to fully express self-giving, self-sacrificial love to one another.

Within marriage, their two lives become so deeply embedded in and intertwined with one another physically, emotionally and spiritually, that they actually became “one flesh”. They share a new nature, a new being, that is defined by their togetherness. Marriage is an incredibly sacred relationship, given to humanity as a gift from God. It is never to be discarded lightly. It is to be honoured and cherished more than any other human relationship.

So today’s passage makes it clear: Jesus’ teaching about marriage begins with its sacredness. Unlike those of His day who treated marriage as a relationship one could easily exit when the going got tough, Jesus’ disciples are called to highly honour and cherish marriage as absolutely sacred, and to go to great lengths to preserve its sanctity.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn one or more of these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ:

• I will allow His view of marriage to shape mine.
• I will honour and cherish marriage as a sacred gift from God and treat it accordingly.

Heavenly Father, please help me to have my view of marriage shaped by Your Word and not by the culture of the day. Amen.