Exclusively His

Adultery is a word loaded with pain! When a spouse discovers that the person they love has become involved emotionally and/or sexually with another, it causes deep sorrow, a sense of terrible loss, and yes - even murderous rage. I attended a conference for ministers where a man spoke to us about an occupational hazard for those who are care-givers, who counsel and share with people in a deeply loving way. Without proper boundaries that person may succumb to a temptation to adultery. This man had been a Senior Pastor of a large church. Over time, his carelessness and prayerlessness, led him to become spiritually weak, vulnerable to the seductions of the sinful nature, and he chose to become an adulterer, involved with a woman in his congregation for an extended time. When he realized that his sin was about to be made public, he went to tell his wife before anyone else could do so. Upon hearing of his unfaithfulness, her emotional pain was so intense she collapsed and remained in a catatonic state for several days. Though his marriage survived, the pain he brought to it was still apparent in the scars more than a decade after the sin! The covenant of marriage is an exclusive one in which we pledge to 'forsake all others... until death separates us.' We speak those words, not simply from some romantic notion, but as a promise that invokes God's witness, 'so help me God'.

There are numerous reasons for preserving fidelity in marriage, not the least of which is that the marital covenant is a living illustration of God's relationship with His people - the Church. Through the love of Christ, we are married to Him as His Bride. He has an expectation of faithfulness from us. In Exodus 34:10-14 the LORD said, “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. ... Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." (NKJV)

Does that strike you as strange, that something so loaded with negative connotations as jealousy, should be connected to a holy God? Yet, He says His Name is Jealous!

Read this and let the depth of His love sink into your heart. -- The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 7:7-9 NIV) At His own expense, He took us from slavery to sin and Evil. He lovingly restored our dignity and beauty and now He claims us as His own - with the expectation that we will remain faithful to Him.

The intensity of His love for us is revealed in another passage where we read, So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has made with you. You will break it if you make idols of any shape or form, for the Lord your God has absolutely forbidden this. The Lord your God is a devouring (consuming) fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:23-24, NLT) He burns with such passionate love for us that He cannot share our worship and love with anyone else. The fire of His love is all encompassing. We cannot satisfy His love by giving Him bits and pieces of ourselves. His love is not a little fire that is fed with sticks and twigs of our spare time and extra energy; it is a raging fire that needs all of you and me. Jesus said that the primary commandment is that "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30, NKJV) The Decalogue begins with the stark and clear command - Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me."

Are you flirting with other lovers? That is a small step from adultery!
Have you reserved a part of your heart, soul, or mind for another?Remember, the LORD is a jealous God. Let that love draw you close, hold you safe, and captivate you.
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God, our Husband and our Lover,
we pray for a true heart that loves You.
As sin and Devil sing their seductive songs,
help us to hear Your song of love alone.
Your Jealous love is a strength, a comfort to us.
Thank you that you are faithful, even when we are faithless.
Bind us to You so that we will bring You joy, not sorrow,
all the days of our lives until you take us in your home for eternity.
We pray this in the Name of Jesus, who loved and saved us.
Amen.