Numbers 35-36, Mark 10:1-.31 • Key Verse: Mark 10:5
More than ever, the prefix "‘step-” is a part of our vocabulary. Sometimes due to death but more
often due to divorce and remarriage, one may speak of a stepparent, stepbrother, stepsister or
stepchild. The prefix “ex-” has become a word that can stand alone in a sentence. A former
spouse is often referred to as ones “ex.”
At first glance, the prevalent use of these terms is probably because of the high divorce rate. That
is one cause, but it is not really the heart of the matter.
The Heart of the matter is, in fact, the heart. Skip the debate over whether the Bible allows for
divorce. Instead, cut to the chase with the words of Jesus: Moses permitted divorce “because
your hearts were hard” (v. 5).
Without the law of Moses, a husband could impulsively divorce his wife, discarding her, as
Warren Wiersbe writes, “like an unwanted piece of furniture.”
In reality, divorce does not solve the problem. It just removes the people a step or two from the
situation. But the hard heart—the heart of the problem, according to Jesus—stays with the
person.
The bottom line for Christians is that our hearts are not to be hard. Keep yours teachable, open
and responsive to God's Word and work. Too often the problems we face remain and worsen
because our hearts are hard.
“Help me to have a teachable spirit, a heart that is open and responsive to You, O God. ”
Woodrow Kroll & Tony Beckett
www.backtothebible.in

Mar 7, 2019 FAITH WALK