Unrestricted, Unequivocal, and Unconditional
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Daily Reading: Ezekiel 16
Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. (Ezekiel 16.60)
Devotional Thought: A friend recently shared with me about his son. He went to a faith-based school where he met and married a young lady from a God-honoring home. They settled in that community, and he got a job that required periodic travel. Everything appeared to be going nicely.
A year and a half later he called his father, “Dad—I don’t know what to do. Melissa (not her real name) just confessed she’s been sleeping with other guys while I’ve been out of town and wants a divorce. We’ve been to counseling, and she’s been diagnosed with a disorder that causes her to seek the affection of other men because of some deep emotional deficits in her life—deficits I never knew were there. The reason I’m so confused is because I’m truly conflicted. When I said, ‘For better or for worse, in sickness and in health,’ I meant it. While I know I have biblical grounds for a divorce, I also believe I have a responsibility, if she’s really sick, to stand by her while she works through what she needs to work through.”
In Ezekiel 16, the prophet, in descriptive detail, outlines Israel’s adulterousness and unfaithfulness. The explicit and graphic nature of the words would make us blush if we were to read them in public. Yet, despite all the adultery and waywardness, God will honor his covenant with those who trust in him.
Isn’t it good to know that no life is so soiled, and no person is so depraved to be beyond the scope of what God can do through his transforming grace. His commitment to us is unrestricted, unequivocal, and unconditional.
John Whitsett
Prayer: Heavenly Father … thank you for holding fast and standing firm when I’ve failed and forsaken you. Help me to always remember the mind-blowing possibilities that accompany your life-changing grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 31.14-18
14 But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God. ”
15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!
17 O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.