I Do

Daily Reading:  Mark 10

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. (Mark 10.9)

Devotional Thought:  In recent years, marriage has been redefined in America and around the world.  Marriage, however, is not invented by nor defined by man.  Rather, it is founded upon the eternal purposes of God.  When Jesus answered a question about marriage in Mark 10, he insisted first that God is the author of this age-old institution and that He is very serious about it.

Today, however, we are somehow under the impression that the rules of marriage can be changed.  Co-habitation, no-fault divorce, and same-sex marriages have become normalized and even celebrated.  But as Jesus said, “at the beginning” it was not like that.  God made us male and female and then in the mystery of his grace provided marriage to unite us sexually, emotionally and even spiritually.  We have reduced marriage to a legal contract, subject to the prevailing cultural mood.  It is sad, isn’t it?

What are Christians to do?  I have several suggestions.

1)     Do not judge the world.  Those who do not walk with Christ operate from a different set of principles.  We must keep our own house in order!  The world will take the church more seriously when we have a better track record regarding marriage and divorce.

2)     Be committed to the Biblical ideal of purity before and within marriage.  Though old-fashioned terms, adultery (unfaithfulness in marriage) and fornication (sex before marriage) are still sins!

3)     Refuse to be drawn into the trap of pornography.  It is not a harmless activity.

4)     Remain committed to your marriage, and do what you can to make it strong.

5)     Pray for and help those whose marriages are struggling.

6)     Pray for the state of marriage in society.

Let us heed the admonition of Jesus and not allow marriage to be torn apart.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for wisdom and experience of the ages that have recognized the strength and sanctity of marriage.  In this day of crumbling morals and societies, show mercy to us and renew in us the purposes of God.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 7.1-5

1 O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,

4 if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause,

5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah