June 14

Text: Matthew 19:7-9

They *said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?"  He *said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." (NASB)

The real problem surfaces!  The forever problem is characteristic of people of every culture in any generation of every century!  Our desire is to justify human behavior no matter how ungodlike it is.

If God were to express His basic desires in specific laws would the human desire to justify human ungodlike behavior exist? 

Consider the 10 commandments given to Israel in Exodus 20:1-17.  May we express the human desire to justify?  “Who says we owe You anything?  What is a god or idol?  What is ‘in vain’?  Define work.  Why should we feel a sense of indebtedness to anyone?  Why should we respect other people?  Why should we not use situations to our advantage?  What is wrong with having ambition?”

Thus they (and we) justify human self-sufficiency.  People can worship anything that seems reasonable by human standards.  People justify any human effort in the name of good business.  Thus we can do anything we wish to do any time we wish to do it.  People’s needs exist to be exploited—that is simply good advertisement and good moneymaking opportunity.  Greed that represents opportunity is good! 

Thus there is justification for any behavior.  After all, what does God have to do with human behavior—divine expectations are, at best, arbitrary.  Who gave God the prerogative of deciding right and wrong?

Jesus said Moses’ directive was a divine concession to human relationship failure!  If we were what our Source designed us to be, have you considered how radically improved our world would be?  One begins to gain insight into the fact that the person dedicated to righteousness will not fit into this existence.

Suggestion for reflection: How well do you fit into this existence?  (Read 1 Peter 2:11, 12.)