The Desertion Myth

# 571 - Today's Du-votional comes from: Mr 10:9 "Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

Do you see any exceptions granted by Jesus for divorce in this passage? Yet, like a child looking for excuses for his behavior, we keep looking. Still another exception myth that the church has bought into is that of desertion.

Desertion is covered in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: 1Co 7:10 Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

Again, it's pretty straightforward. A wife is not to depart, and a husband is not to divorce. Note the total absence of exceptions here. Divorce and remarriage is consistently forbidden in these passages.

But then in verse 15, we read, “ But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart;” What is the person who departs a marriage called? “An unbeliever!” An unbeliever has an excuse. He or she doesn’t care what the Bible says about the permanence of marriage. Not so for the believer. They ought to know! They certainly ought to care!

Granted, many a believer has been led down the wrong road because of the improper interpretation of the scriptures concerning marriage and divorce, and if this describes your situation, be willing to be corrected.

If possible, reconciliation with the spouse is to be sought, if not possible the spouse is to remain single. If you have departed from a marriage, or remarried after a divorce, ask God for His forgiveness and then “go and sin no more. “ Seek to live within His will in your new circumstances. That means sexual purity for the single and no more divorce. for the remarried!

Father, we have made a mess of this in the church today. Forgive us, help us to grasp these truths and live according to Your will.