“Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. 2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied. 4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” 5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’[a] 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Mark 10.1-9
In today’s culture, marriage vows often seem optional. When people are encouraged to follow their feelings rather than commitments, marriages often fall apart.Now, don’t get me wrong, marriage is not easy! Living with me is no picnic! But God’s design for marriage is to stick together until death.
My parents will be celebrating 60 years of marriage this summer, June 12 to be exact. They have stuck together through thick and thin, and I honor them for it. God has blessed our entire family because of their decision to remain married.
Jesus was moving from one Jewish town to the next when the Pharisees again came to test him (they tended to do this a lot!). And they asked him about marriage — “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Jesus reminds them that this allowance was made only due to their hard hearts and not as God’s acceptable way.
Jesus then refers to Genesis and how God made Adam and Eve to be “one flesh” – and that which is one flesh should never be separated.Now, many temptations come our way; the “world” wants us to do what feels good — but God’s way is better, it’s ordered, designed, and purposeful. Sometimes divorce happens, and we grieve that loss, but for those who are able to remain married, to work through failures, God’s blessings will be even better.
As my wife and I approach 25 years this summer, I am blessed to have experienced God’s better way for us and his original design for a husband and wife. His way is best; walk in it.”
O Lord God, today in the middle of a Texas spring in the hill country, new life abounds. You are so faithful to us. You have set before us a design that if followed will result in goodness and grace. Help us, Lord, to be faithful and to walk according to your ways. Come now, Holy Spirit, bind our marriages together to make them stronger than ever. Protect us from temptation. For you are good, and your love endures forever.” Amen