Word@Work 112 - Mark 10:5-9
Published: Mon, 04/28/08
Word@Work from BeaconLight
Read Mark 10:5-9 "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female'. 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (NIV)
Religion, paradoxically, can become a tool of the selfish: a way of justifying self-will. Jesus took them back to basics by quoting from Genesis 2:24, thereby validating the passage in the context of divorce. He then adds a further comment - the married couple are not to be considered as two separate individuals, because God has not designed them to be independent. (God's style of joining people together makes separation as difficult as forcing apart two pieces of wood that are joined by strong glue. As the glue is much stronger than the wood, disturbing the joint inevitably breaks off bits of both pieces.)
God's design of marriage, by powerfully welding two individuals, should be obvious enough: it is intended to be permanent until death intervenes. But in the face of hard hearted relationships, Jesus adds another clause. It is God who has done the joining; so woe betides any who mess around with that joint! Jesus was saying that it is no wiser to disturb the bonds of a marriage - than to interfere with any other creation design. If we are waking up to the stupidity of upsetting the balance of the natural world (because once we lose it we cannot get it back), should we not value marriage more highly?
The workplace (with its hectic and mobile lifestyle), as well as the leisure club, are potent breeding grounds for marital unfaithfulness. Less time at home, reduces the bond-nurturing necessary to protect the marriage against meltdown. Less time praying together, means more opportunity to forget the preciousness of the gift we have received, and the God who gave it to us. So for those who are married, this means an obligation of culturing marriage: and for everybody - a severe warning against disturbing another marriage.
Prayer: Father God. Thank you for designing marriage as a good gift to men and women. Help me to honour You in treasuring right relationships and keeping myself from wrong ones. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
Religion, paradoxically, can become a tool of the selfish: a way of justifying self-will. Jesus took them back to basics by quoting from Genesis 2:24, thereby validating the passage in the context of divorce. He then adds a further comment - the married couple are not to be considered as two separate individuals, because God has not designed them to be independent. (God's style of joining people together makes separation as difficult as forcing apart two pieces of wood that are joined by strong glue. As the glue is much stronger than the wood, disturbing the joint inevitably breaks off bits of both pieces.)
God's design of marriage, by powerfully welding two individuals, should be obvious enough: it is intended to be permanent until death intervenes. But in the face of hard hearted relationships, Jesus adds another clause. It is God who has done the joining; so woe betides any who mess around with that joint! Jesus was saying that it is no wiser to disturb the bonds of a marriage - than to interfere with any other creation design. If we are waking up to the stupidity of upsetting the balance of the natural world (because once we lose it we cannot get it back), should we not value marriage more highly?
The workplace (with its hectic and mobile lifestyle), as well as the leisure club, are potent breeding grounds for marital unfaithfulness. Less time at home, reduces the bond-nurturing necessary to protect the marriage against meltdown. Less time praying together, means more opportunity to forget the preciousness of the gift we have received, and the God who gave it to us. So for those who are married, this means an obligation of culturing marriage: and for everybody - a severe warning against disturbing another marriage.
Prayer: Father God. Thank you for designing marriage as a good gift to men and women. Help me to honour You in treasuring right relationships and keeping myself from wrong ones. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read more of this Bible passage online - in English and other languages - share the Bible with your friends!
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