THEME: SPIRITUAL ADULTERY
MEMORISE:
For Thy Maker is Thine husband; the Lord of hosts is His name; and Thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called. Isaiah 54:5
READ: Hosea 2:2-5
2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;
3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.
5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
MESSAGE:
The relationship between God and man can be likened to that of a husband and his wife. Paul confirms this when he enjoined husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5:25). This is why God punishes anyone caught in spiritual adultery. For example, He punished the Israelites in Judges 2:11,13-14:
*“And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim: ... And they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.”*
Just like a man could be jealous over the relationship of his wife with another man, when we serve other gods besides Him, God becomes very jealous (Exodus 20:5). The spiritual adultery committed by the children of Israel can be likened to the relationship between Hosea and Gomer - a professional harlot-turned-wife. The patience of Hosea with Gomer (who was always going back to her whoredom like a dog that goes back to its vomit) also illustrates God's patience with His people who court the friendship of the world.
1 John 2:15 says:
*"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."*
Our love cannot be shared between God and the temporary things of this world. Jesus confirms this in Luke 16:13, where He said:
*"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."*
Attempting to love God and the world at the same time will lead to rejection and shame (Revelation 3:15-16).
Beloved, beware of spiritual adultery, as it would only lead to eternal damnation. Stick to Jesus Christ, the Lover of your soul.
PRAYER POINT:
Father, please forgive me of any spiritual adultery I might have committed against You. I promise to remain faithful to You until the very end.
HYMN 14: JESUS MY LORD, MY GOD, MY ALL
1 Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All,
Hear me, blest Saviour, when I call;
Hear me, and from Thy dwelling place
Pour down the riches of Thy grace.
Refrain:
Jesus, my Lord, I Thee adore;
O make me love Thee more and more.
2. Jesus, too late I Thee have sought;
how can I love thee as I ought?
And how extol Thy matchless fame,
the glorious beauty of Thy name?
3. Jesus, what didst Thou find in me
that Thou hast dealt so lovingly?
How great the joy that Thou hast brought,
so far exceeding hope or thought!
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Leviticus 19 -21
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
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