Friday 13 Aug 2021

August 13: Matthew 19:3-12
 
Key Verse: Matthew 19:8
Jesus replied, ‘Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.
 
Devotion:
We do not live the same way now as people did fifty years ago, never mind a century or more ago. Mankind changes, evolves, mixes, learns, makes mistakes – and so it continues. When the people started quizzing Jesus about divorce, it was because they knew from history Moses talked about getting a certificate of divorce and some of them seemed to object to that practice.
 
The Pharisees wanted to trip Jesus up so they could look more important and better versed with the law than Him. Unfortunately, they did not realise just whom Jesus is and they threw questions at Him expecting Jesus to flounder and say something wrong. Jesus knew what they were trying to do and would quite often get the people to question themselves instead of pointing out their errors.
 
Constantly being told off or being told you are wrong does nothing to help you feel good about yourself! On the other hand, always being told you are good and nothing can go wrong is going to give you a false sense of pride. We have to find the balance somewhere in between – God can help us to find that balance and wants us to be able to walk the path with Him.
 
It’s no good just talking about love, peace and happiness when we know the world is not like that. We must face reality and know we are going to face horrible things like divorce in our lives. As long as we can come to terms with why things happen, we can move forward and continue to draw closer to God each day.
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel bad breaking up with others?
 
Will you ask God to help you realise why things happen?