Day 159 "The fall begins when we neglect the Word."

Day 159 Matthew 19:1-9 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” When Jesus is asked a question regarding issues of the day, there is a commonality to each and every answer: they are short, and they bear witness with the Word. I love how the Pharisees attempted to circumvent the Word with the Mosaic Law, yet Jesus took it right back to the Word. There is much to be learned by this. A few years ago, my first wife and I had been meeting with a growing number of couples whose marriages were coming apart at the seams, and each one had the very same commonalities. First of all, the couples neglected the Word and fellowship. By neglecting the Word and fellowship in a marriage, we allow feelings from the heart to dictate our actions rather than the truth of the Word. In addition, by starving our spirit of the Word, it becomes weak as the flesh continues to strengthen; therefore, it is again not long before our flesh has taken the upper hand and we are being led by it rather than by the Spirit. Truth becomes distorted and we react to everything from the flesh, thus leading to confrontation, sin, and lust, and, left unchecked, the flesh will destroy the marriage. The second commonality has been sexual immorality, which by the way, does not require intercourse with another person–sexual immorality does, however, include lusting after another. Don't be fooled by your flesh into thinking that viewing pornography is acceptable, even if it is with your spouse. If you need pornography for sexual arousal with your spouse, then your spouse is not the one you’re aroused by, which means you, not your spouse, have other issues to resolve. You cannot view pornography without lusting, and lust leads to acting out what you lust after in one form or another. Yes, according to this passage in the literal sense, sexual immorality is reason for divorce; however, Jesus said, "…what God has joined together let no man separate." He is not saying sexual immorality allows divorce; He is rather saying if you’re going to sin by divorcing, this is the only reason for it. Rather than get into a deep theological discussion, let me just say that God does not intend for people who are married to divorce for any reason; however, as He does with all sin, He will forgive a repentant heart. The third commonality in these marital challenges was that they had decided it was more important to fix the blame rather than the problem. When our goal is to fix the blame, we build a wall of pride around us that allows little or no reality or reasonable discussion to enter in. We become so fixated on being correct that it becomes all we care or speak of; there is no desire to fix the problem because the problem has suddenly become who is right or wrong, while the truth is both of you are wrong! If we purpose to fix the problem, then it becomes the focus of our energy and frustration rather than our spouse. Suddenly, we can partner together to defeat the problem rather than partnering together to destroy ours and the lives of our loved ones. Lastly, the word divorce has been allowed to enter into the discussion–suddenly it is an option. Divorce should not be a word in the vocabulary of a married couple unless used to describe a terribly horrific event in someone else's life. When we make a covenant before God, it is a permanent covenant with God and our spouse with eternal ramifications. If your relationship with your spouse has any one of these issues, fix it now and get back on track. You can rejuvenate your relationship and love for one another if you truly desire to. Daily Prayer: Father, I pray that each of us who are married would stay committed to keeping You at the center of our marriage for You, Oh Lord, are our hope and strength. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "The fall begins when we neglect the Word." Pastor Gene Burroughs