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¹ "If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and marries another man,

should he return to her again?

Would not the land be completely defiled?

But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—

would you now return to me?"

declares the LORD.

² "Look up to the barren heights and see.

Is there any place where you have not been ravished?

By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers,

sat like a nomad ^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} in the desert.

You have defiled the land

with your prostitution and wickedness.

³ Therefore the showers have been withheld,

and no spring rains have fallen.

Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;

you refuse to blush with shame.

⁴ Have you not just called to me:

'My Father, my friend from my youth,

⁵ will you always be angry?

Will your wrath continue forever?'

This is how you talk,

but you do all the evil you can.

Jeremiah 3:1-5

Countless times we as a church are described as being the bride of Christ & that Christ is the bridegroom.

In Hebrew custom the engagement would go like this:

The man comes to the girl's house to make his request for marriage. He makes the request but the girl must accept. He shows her a contract for their marriage which she must read and understand and agree to completely. He then offers her a cup of wine and drinks from it and in order to seal the covenant she must take of the cup and drink of it as well. Then the groom must go to Jerusalem and build a home for her and then he will come back and they will be married. In the mean time, however, while he is away they are both basically married and she must keep herself pure and waiting for his return.

Can we see some parallels here? Christ comes to us and offers a relationship like no other. He shows us his word, his promise of eternal life and the things we must keep in mind- a contract in which we agree and hold to. He died for us or drank of the cup and we too must die to sin and "drink from his cup." And of course now he has gone to build a home for us & will be back to take us to where he is.

But the question lies between the moment of agreement and the day of return. Are we being faithful or have we turned our hearts and minds to other things and other people? Are we adulterers? Prostitutes?

Jeremiah speaks adamantly about how we treat and mock God. Yes, we are mocking him.

Imagine you were married but you had extramarital affairs in the mean time. Your spouse may be hidden in the dark but God is all seeing, all knowing. When we place other things & people in front of God, he knows &

his heart breaks for us.

So when we decide to lock God out of certain areas of our life.

When we decide to split ourselves into different people.

When we become ashamed of Christ.

When we make exceptions, bend the rules, make excuses.

When we continue doing what we know is wrong and ignore what we know is right.

When we prostitute ourselves with the world

allow it to defile us

destroy us

demean us

take advantage of us

compel us to more evil than we thought capable

and take us farther and farther from where we should be...

Don't forget that its not too late. The woman who was caught in the act of adultery was thrown at the feet of Jesus. Tears and shame and fear were marked deeply on her face, her heart, as the assembly reminded Jesus of the law. She was to be stoned. Made into an example. An act punishable by death. But rather than casting the first stone he drew a line.

No one can cross that line but Christ and instead of throwing a stone he was nailed to a tree.

Even when you have "sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad ^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} in the desert", remember that there is someone who is ready to save you, to love you, to give you a home. But if you continue and continue to make excuses

continue to defile not only your name but God's name...

Some think that the 3rd Commandment of "Do not take the Lord's name in vain" simply means don't say it in exclamation or outside of reverence & while this is true & you should regard the Lord's name as Holy

The 3rd commandment actually means "Do not live your life in a way that would Defile the name of God."

If you are saying you a Christian and declaring Christ as your savior but living in prostitution~ then you are defiling the name of Christ and making others question his sovereignty.

Is that something you're willing to risk?