She walks away

Why would she do that? Is He not enough?

Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. Isaiah 62:4

Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. Jeremiah 3:14

There is no relationship as intimate, as powerful, none more beautiful and purposeful than marriage. God’s people are termed many things in the Bible: a peculiar people, a holy nation, but here in Jeremiah 3:14 he calls them married. I recently had the privilege of officiating the marriage of one of my nephews; I wanted to be brief, knowing that people had not come to hear me pontificate but to witness the birth of this young couple’s marriage. It is always a mistake in a marriage or a funeral ceremony to try and force an opportunity for the gospel but if the situation is truly of the Lord the gospel will be seen, if not always heard. So I told the attendants that a picture was worth a thousand words and the young Christian couple before them, about to be joined in holy matrimony, were a beautiful picture of God’s relationship with His people. As you know we are betrothed to Christ, we are His, we are married to Him, though we must wait for the complete consummation in His return and the marriage supper of the Lamb.

A few weeks ago God spoke to my heart as I was praying for the church. He simply said “she walks away.” I could see her, walking away from the One who loves her, cares for her, protects her, covers her, adores her and leads her. Why would she walk away? Is He not enough? Has His love not been proved? His sacrifice not been seen? Yet we still wander.

The Bible says in the last days they will be without natural affections; in the times that we live in, even the simple and powerful picture of marriage is so often not understood, even by believers. We fail to understand the love of God, the passion of God and the jealousy that God feels for us. Exodus says He is a Jealous God. Unfaithfulness, pleasure and greed mark our society and satan uses all he can to pull us away from God’s love. Just the sheer number of divorces among Christians today is sufficient for us to see the vastness of this problem. The spiritual has always played out in the natural: just as we looked at this young couple about to embark on this journey of love and faithfulness, we could see God’s heart. Just as a young man promises to love, cherish, lead and protect his bride: in sickness and in health, in prosperity and poverty, forsaking all others for her, so Christ does for the bride. As a young woman promises to love, cherish, follow and obey her husband, through whatever would come their way; so the church should mirror this. It can be disturbing to see many of the women of the world today: the aggression and anger and sometimes even profane actions that are witnessed, are shocking. It is always grievous to hear a man’s profane words and actions but it is especially grieving for the same to come from a woman, for a woman can always fall further than a man. Those in society today say that a woman should not be put on a pedestal, but I say that God does put her on a pedestal of purity and honor, to be loved and cherished; and when she falls from that it is always heartbreaking. Although these are difficult things to discuss they must be looked at. For in these last days God is preparing a bride, without spot or blemish, marked by faithfulness and a longing and loving to stand by her man, Jesus. If this be true, then the antithesis is also true: satan is trying to bring something altogether false into view, something that looks nothing like the marriage God intends. God is the glory of man and the man, the husband, is the glory of his bride. All of her satisfaction is to be found in him. Opportunities, careers, privileges or placements fall away as we look to our Savior, our Lover and to His children.

Oh what an incredible God we have. He saves us, redeems us, brings us to Himself, but He doesn’t stop there. He says that we are married to Him. He wants us to know His deepest thoughts; He wants to share His heart, unfettered, with us.

So many times, like a restless wife, we believe we can have it all, we can have the world and the Lord too. It is impossible. In the book of James he states: you adulteresses do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility to God. These are the Bible’s words not mine, although they seem harsh I do not believe that James was trying to shock but simply speaking the truth because he understood God’s relationship with His bride. A wife that turns her affections, even for a time, from the one she is promised to is defined as an adulteress. The preachers of old were not afraid to use Biblical words such as these but today we’ve redefined these words out of existence. Couples who live together outside of marriage, to say truthfully that they are fornicators now, does not even make sense to many Christians. Even marriage itself has been redefined by the top courts in the land. The Bible says that when sin abounds in the last days, the love of many will grow cold; we must fight to stay by the fire or we will, as many are doing now, grow cold and begin to walk away. It may be that America will never be able to recover from some of the destructive laws and evil that she has embraced. Nevertheless, when there are praying saints and the Holy Ghost there is always hope. I believe there remains a harvest that He desires, in our land. The Old Testament states that if a man has a wife and she leaves him for another she cannot come back to him for the land is defiled.

Yet, while God in His judicial justice could turn away from us, He does not. His mercy, His love and longing for His bride surpasses understanding. The situation in Jeremiah 3 is hard to read and yet God states that as we turn to Him, He will take one from a city and two from a family and bring them unto Zion, for He is married to us.

The Word of God states that though we are faithless, He remains faithful. Truly, we are in a Hosea generation, unfaithfulness is rampant, even in the kingdom. At times it has been hard to tell Christians from those in the world. It is the exception to meet a Christian who does not drink today, instead of it being an anomaly to meet a Christian that does. There was a time when the preachers of past generations, would throw their televisions away, but today many believers allow themselves to be washed over by the flood of filth pouring forth from all the media portals. It seems that sanctification is a very scarce word these days and that holiness is outdated; may this never be, dear Lord, may it never be. I am not speaking of a holiness that hides or a sanctimonious sanctification, but rather a passion for God that wants to set anything aside that gets in the way of the relationship of our Lord and His bride. God desires life, liberty and love, but to truly have these one must have a committed faithfulness. God is preparing a bride, He wants her to walk down the aisle, not with a worldly swagger and the scent of the world, nor does He want her to hesitantly walk down the aisle downcast. He wants her walking with purposeful anticipation, with an inner joy and beauty that cannot be contained, longing to be joined to the One who has won her heart. Let us not take our cue from the world, who exchanges vows on their own terms and are happy for the Lord to protect them, give them the use of His name, bring them pleasure and provide for them without any commitment on their part. Rather, let us take our cue from the young couple I spoke of earlier, where she promised to love, honor and obey through all circumstances, knowing that she had found the love of her life and that he was all that was needed.

Come on church, let us take God at His word. Let us turn back to Him and He will pour His Spirit upon us and we will be called married.