When You Make This Commitment Don’t Change

Proverbs 2:17
who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.

Malachi 2:14-16
(14) You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
(15) Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
(16) “The man who hates and divorces his wife, ” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the LORD Almighty.
So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.

The book of Proverbs Chapter two tells us the benefits of wisdom. Solomon the wisest man to ever live writes these words. He urges the son to listen to his advice. He tells the son that if he pays attention, he will be wise and God will grant him wisdom.

King Solomon tells the son that wisdom comes from God, Proverbs 2:6. Obedience to a parent pleases God. Listen to a parent pleases God. When God is pleased, He grants wisdom. Listening to a parent doesn’t make us wise. Listening to a parent and reading many books of wisdom will never ever make us wise. Wisdom is God-given.

1 Corinthians 12:8
To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,

You can read motivation books but you will not be wise unless God makes you wise. You can read books and listen to audiobooks and summaries of how to be successful, but wisdom comes from God. Autobiographies, biographies, and interviews of great men and women will not give us wisdom, because only God can give.

You can read about success and remain a failure. You can read about wisdom and live like a fool. You can read the right things and practice the wrong things. You can be motivated by the best people but live a pessimistic life of a discouraged person. Unless God grants you wisdom, you can’t have it!

Then King Solomon goes further ahead to explain why the acquisition of wisdom should be his son’s priority. Solomon tells his son that wisdom has many benefits. First, wisdom will save you from wicked men, Proverbs 2:12-15. Wicked men first look like great company but deep within them, they have a plan to take advantage of us and destroy us. Without wisdom, we will become victims of wicked people who we first thought are friends, or good-intentioned business partners, etc.

Secondly, wisdom will save you from an adulterous woman whose relationship begins as fun but ends in regret and death, Proverbs 2:16-19. An adulterous woman stands for the sexual escapades that look like fun but eventually end in regrettable pain. With such great initial fun, all are blinded to the danger lurking ahead, but wisdom from God will guard and protect you from such traps.

In our text today, while explaining the wickedness of the adulterous woman, the Bible reveals something about marriage. The inspired words of Solomon reveal that two things are critical in marriage. First is the commitment you made to each other in your youth years. Secondly, is the fact that God acted as a witness in the marriage relationship. Those two facts are repeated in the book of Malachi that we cited at the beginning.

Modern-day wisdom falsely tells us that you need a marriage spouse in your twenties, a different one in your thirties, a different one in your forties, and finally a different one in your fifties. God looks at separation and divorce as a betrayal of your commitment to the spouse of your youth. In Proverbs, the woman betrayed the husband of her youth. In Malachi, the husband betrayed the wife of his youth. God is offended by such betrayal.

You can’t waste a person’s life and several years later claim to have irreconcilable differences. Clearly, you lacked wisdom from the beginning. After wasting someone’s best years, God treats it as a betrayal. Because of that betrayal, God sends you untold misery. In every separation and divorce, God identifies the guilty party and punishes them for betrayal. It could be one or both parties.

The book of Malachi cited above further adds that God wants and expects godly offspring. Divorce and separation affect children and May kill their spiritual life and other aspects of life. The betrayal of the marriage covenant denies God the godly children He was expecting.

However, where there is life-threatening abuse in the marriage, no one is under obligation to stay. Run for your life and let God deal with the rest of the issues.

In both Proverbs and Malachi cited above, we are told that marriage covenants are made before God. One of the many reasons why we must strive to make marriage work is that we made a promise to God that this particular person is our marriage partner. For God’s sake remain faithful and make it work. Otherwise, separation and divorce may seem wise to you but offend God before whom you made the covenant.

Therefore, when you make this marriage commitment, don’t change it. Do your best in the presence of God to make it work. God is the judge, He rewards and punishes all that happens everywhere including what happens in marriage. When you make this commitment, don’t change!

Dear God, I pray for wisdom to live a productive and successful life. Wisdom to avoid traps and dangerous situations and people. Wisdom to remain faithful to the spouse of my youth. Wisdom to choose the right spouse. May this wisdom be mine, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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