Keep the Faith

Malachi 2:13-16 (NIV)

Another thing you do: You flood the Lord's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

"I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the Lord Almighty.

So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

You've have heard the common salutation "Keep the Faith." I haven't heard it much in recent years but twenty years ago, it was quite common. What we meant by it was similar to what we mean when we say "Hang in there" today. Keep believing, keep trusting; know that it is going to work out. I find it interesting that God uses this term in speaking of marriage. Actually He says it in the negative "Do not break the faith." Marriage is a covenant relationship. That is why we call them marriage "vows." It is a promise to be faithful. The other person can "keep the faith" knowing that you can be trusted. By not being faithful to your promise, you have "broken the faith." Divorce happens not because "we just don't love each other anymore." It happens because one or both are no longer trustworthy. It is a broken faith. This is no lightweight matter. God says he hates divorce.

I suppose about half the people I know, maybe more, are divorced and remarried. If you are divorced it is because of sin and unfaithfulness. Are you then ruined, no longer fit for God's service? No more so than any sinner and we are in that category. God can use you but it will be through brokenness, repentance. You can never escape the consequences of sin in this life. But you can escape the burden of it. From this day forth, do as God says, "Guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith."