- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 17,522
3 June 2008
Word on the Web
Judges 19 v 1-7
There was a Levite who lived in the faraway mountains of Ephraim. He had taken a slave woman from the city of Bethlehem in the land of Judah to live with him but she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah and stayed there for four months. Then her husband went to ask her to come back to him, taking with him his servant and two donkeys. When the Levite came to her father's house, she invited him to come in, and her father was happy to see him. The father-in-law, the young woman's father, asked him to stay. So he stayed for three days and ate, drank, and slept there.
On the fourth day they got up early in the morning. The Levite was getting ready to leave, but the woman's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself by eating something. Then go." So the two men sat down to eat and drink together. After that, the father said to him, "Please stay tonight. Relax and enjoy yourself." When the man got up to go, his father-in-law asked him to stay. So he stayed again that night.
As in many horror films, our story starts with a scene from happy family life. As so often in families today, it wasn't all plain sailing - the marriage had fallen apart due to unfaithfulness, but the man took the initiative to put it together again, the woman responded, and her family were obviously delighted.
Are there relationships in your life which need you to take the initiative - even if you feel that you are the person who has been wronged? Are you willing, in God's strength, to forgive the unforgivable, to put aside bitterness or resentment which eat away at your soul, and to make the first approach for peace and reconciliation?
Or do you prefer to take the easy way out, to start again without addressing the issues which caused the original breakdown, and to make it likely that the same issues will resurface in a new context?
Jesus made clear that unfaithfulness destroys marriage and is justifiable grounds for divorce - but he also taught a radical path of self-denial and going beyond what is reasonable to those who seek happiness. "Blessed are the peace-makers."
Lord Jesus, give me the courage to deny myself, to take up my cross and to follow you wherever you lead, knowing that your ways are the best. Amen
Written by James Archer
Word on the Web
Judges 19 v 1-7
There was a Levite who lived in the faraway mountains of Ephraim. He had taken a slave woman from the city of Bethlehem in the land of Judah to live with him but she was unfaithful to him. She left him and went back to her father's house in Bethlehem in Judah and stayed there for four months. Then her husband went to ask her to come back to him, taking with him his servant and two donkeys. When the Levite came to her father's house, she invited him to come in, and her father was happy to see him. The father-in-law, the young woman's father, asked him to stay. So he stayed for three days and ate, drank, and slept there.
On the fourth day they got up early in the morning. The Levite was getting ready to leave, but the woman's father said to his son-in-law, "Refresh yourself by eating something. Then go." So the two men sat down to eat and drink together. After that, the father said to him, "Please stay tonight. Relax and enjoy yourself." When the man got up to go, his father-in-law asked him to stay. So he stayed again that night.
As in many horror films, our story starts with a scene from happy family life. As so often in families today, it wasn't all plain sailing - the marriage had fallen apart due to unfaithfulness, but the man took the initiative to put it together again, the woman responded, and her family were obviously delighted.
Are there relationships in your life which need you to take the initiative - even if you feel that you are the person who has been wronged? Are you willing, in God's strength, to forgive the unforgivable, to put aside bitterness or resentment which eat away at your soul, and to make the first approach for peace and reconciliation?
Or do you prefer to take the easy way out, to start again without addressing the issues which caused the original breakdown, and to make it likely that the same issues will resurface in a new context?
Jesus made clear that unfaithfulness destroys marriage and is justifiable grounds for divorce - but he also taught a radical path of self-denial and going beyond what is reasonable to those who seek happiness. "Blessed are the peace-makers."
Lord Jesus, give me the courage to deny myself, to take up my cross and to follow you wherever you lead, knowing that your ways are the best. Amen
Written by James Archer
