Your Daily Devotional for July 16, 2006

 

July 16, 2006

 

Committed to Continue

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

 

Genesis 2:23-24

 

In this passage, Adam and Eve were united together by God. God had made Eve from Adam’s rib, and He brought Eve to Adam so they could live a life as one. We see that Adam totally accepted her.

 

In verse 23, “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man,” the word “now” implies that finally, at last, he had someone to complete him. Also in the phrase “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh,” Adam is recognizing that she is a part of his very own self; they together would become one.

 

True love always involves total acceptance; it does not involve conditions. Adam didn’t ask God to change anything about Eve. He accepted her for who she was. This is a picture of God’s love for you and me. God is totally committed through Jesus Christ to you and me today.

 

We see in verse 24 the idea of total severance—leaving that which was before and moving forward without looking back. If we aren’t careful, we can build insecurity in our mate by constantly referring to the way it was before marriage, and constantly making our spouse less important than friends or hobbies. We need to do everything in our power to leave that which is behind and be faithful to move forward with our spouse.

 

We need to be totally committed to our spouse. Mark 10:7-9 says, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”  As a married couple, we need to be inseparable.

 

I would challenge you to never use the word divorce as a part of your vocabulary. In the heat of the moment, you can throw that word out and it will be the word that sticks with your spouse the most. Do you know how to avoid becoming an alcoholic? Avoid the first drink. Do you know one way to avoid divorce court? Don’t ever mention the word. Determine that you are going to cleave together inseparably.

 

Time Magazine once reported on the supposed peace accords between PLO and Israel. One Jewish settlement named Netzaian was located in the heart of the Gaza Strip.  The Hamas militants had been plundering the settlement and families had been murdered.  A school teacher, Shlomit Ziev, who lived in Netzaian, was interviewed. She had the finest teaching degree from America and she could have taught anywhere in the world, but she said, “I don’t live where it’s comfortable; I live where it’s important to live.”

 

Parents, be committed to your children. Husband and wife, commit to staying together even when things get difficult. Christians, commit to being faithful to the Lord. Is it important to you to be committed to the principles of God? If it is, then it will be very evident in your life. Friend, I would encourage you to commit to continue in your marriage and in growing more like our Lord Jesus Christ every day!

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