Thank you for joining me back here for Lesson 7 in our current series, working through Part 2 of the Not Ashamed of the Gospel Bible Study from HelloMornings.
Our Scripture passage today is Romans 10: 16 - 21 ...
But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. 18 But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have: “The message has gone throughout the earth, and the words to all the world.” 19 But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, God said, “I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation. I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles.” 20 And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying, “I was found by people who were not looking for me. I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.” 21 But regarding Israel, God said, “All day long I opened my arms to them, but they were disobedient and rebellious.”
This passage of Scripture deals with the topic of "spiritual adultery". Spiritual adultery is loving the things of this world more than God; it's claiming to love God more than anything, while actually loving anything else more!
The picture Paul paints is of the loving, loyal, faithful husband (Father God) stretching out His arms toward His wayward, adulterous wife (the people of God), imploring her to turn from her many lovers, back to His tender, trustworthy embrace.
James describes a similar lack of faithfulness when he writes: "You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." (James 4: 4)
Although Paul is writing specifically about the spiritual adultery of the nation of Israel, I know that I am equally guilty of this sin. How often do I allow my time, my attention, my finances, my loyalty, to be stolen away by the things of this world? How often are my eyes lured away from time in the Word to time online? How many times do my ears wander from listening to worship music, to taking in gossip and negativity? How often do I "not have time" to pray, but I have time for mindless entertainment on YouTube and Netflix?
Oh, how good it was to read this passage today and be reminded of the faithfulness of God, and the inferiority of the things I so often choose in His place!
"He has proved Himself incomparably worthy of admiration, affection, trust, and more" (Jen Stanbro) - may I become more steadfast in my love and worship of Him.
Photo credit: Wham 3622