I have a confession to make:

I committed adultery.

It wasn’t just once; it was often. Even now.

I am married to Christ, but I sometimes take my eyes off His face and look to the pleasures of this world. I think that an occasional foray into the world, with all its passions and desires, won’t hurt anyone, but it causes such grief to my Beloved; friendship to the world is enmity toward Him. I claim to love the Lord, yet my heart often strays to the things of this world.

My Beloved is a jealous God, desiring the entirety of my love and affection. Yet He is also full of grace; He will not force me to come back to Him. He continues loving me tenderly and waiting for me, as the father in the story waited eagerly for his prodigal son to return (Luke 15).

There is hope for me: if I but choose to submit to Him, to come near to Him, He will come near to me. When I realize the depth of my sin, the extent of my depravity; when I grieve over my transgressions and humble myself and submit to Him, He will lift me up, because He shows favor to the humble and His ears are attentive to their cry.

I can no longer attempt to serve two masters; I must make my decision as to which one I will follow, which one to whom I will pledge my life, my soul, my everything.

There is hope for me yet.

Who will you choose to serve?

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  – Joshua 24:15

Scriptures:

James 4:4-5 – “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. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?”

James 4:7-10 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Romans 8:7-8 – “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.”

1 John 2:15-17 – “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”