The Lord, Your Husband

Jeremiah 3:14

“Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you —on from a town and two from a clan — and bring you to Zion.”

The definition of infidelity is: “Unfaithfulness to a sexual partner, especially a spouse.” The Bible calls the church “The bride of Christ.” For a moment, let us picture this Christian life in terms of a marriage.

I once heard a preacher talk about a newly married couple who had just gone on their honeymoon. They had a great time, settled into their new home, and appeared to be happy and excited about moving forward in life together. One day, the wife came home from work and started packing a bag as if she were going out of town. The husband, confused, asked, “Where are you going?” The wife turned to him and said she had other commitments and needed to leave. The husband asked, “What commitments?” She replied, “The other men in my life.” Shocked, he asked her to explain. She said, “I’m only going to be with them a few weekends out of the year, but I’m planning to spend most of my time with you.” He exclaimed, “Them?!” “Yes,” she explained, “but you’ll be the one I spend the most time with, and I love you so much.”

I am sure none of us would stand for this type of love and commitment. In fact, I am certain a divorce would soon follow that conversation. Shocking as it may sound, this is often how we treat Christ. We treat our commitment to the Lord like the woman in the story above. We promise our love and time, but we never truly let go of the things in our lives that are clearly ungodly—those friends, the addictions, how we unwind at the end of the day, our anger, our pride, our lust.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that we are a new creation in Christ: “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Believe it or not, your commitment to Christ is much like a relationship with your significant other—it will only survive if you give it your full commitment. Have you given Christ your full commitment today? Your life should be centered around following Him.

I have always disliked it when men refer to their wives as “the old ball and chain,” as if they are imprisoned with someone they call their wife. Today, renew your commitment to Christ. Make Him your spiritual love for the rest of your days.

Prayer: Father, I pray that we remain faithful to You. I purposefully rid my life of everything that goes against Your Word. I break bad friendships. I remove all sinful things, such as addictions, pornography, lust, and habitual sins, from my life right now in Jesus’ name. I break the cycle of sin in my life, and I bind and rebuke Satan and his demons from my life in Jesus’ name. I cast them back to hell where they belong! I take the authority we have in Jesus and pledge to renew my life under the banner of Jesus, which is truth and grace. In Jesus’ name, amen.