God's Unchangeable Plan For Marriage

422 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 2Sa 3:1-5, “Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. 2 Sons were born to David in Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; 3 his second, Chileab, by Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite; the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; 4 the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5 and the sixth, Ithream, by David's wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron.” (2 Sam 3:1-5) The struggle for a unified kingdom continues between the house of David and the house of Saul. David gets stronger and stronger, Saul's house gets weaker and weaker. Please note the sign given for strength here, namely the number of children that David fathered. I'll speak to that in a later Devo. For now let's first examine David's disobedience in this matter of multiple wives. The Bible does not allow for multiple wives and six wives are listed here. De 17:17 says "Neither shall he (the king) multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away;” God's plan for marriage has always been the same. It was the same for Adam, the same for David, and the same for you and me. One man, one woman, “till death do us part.” Jesus made that clear when he addressed the Pharisees on the matter of divorce. Mt 19:4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' 5 "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 6 "So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." It seems we have really lost sight of this truth in our world today. But the Good News is God forgives. He is capable of healing. He is capable of restoring. No matter where you find yourself in this marriage equation today, draw a line in the sand, and say, “from now on, I will seek to do it God's way.” Is this not what we should say for all of our missteps in life? Father, help me from this day forward to make the best of my situation and henceforth seek to live according to Your will.