Indecent Proposal

Did anyone else out there get sick when the watched that stupid Nicolas cage movie in Vegas, when he offers his wife to the money guy so that he can get out of his gambling debt. I never actually saw indecent proposal but just the thought of offering my wife to some guy for a lot of money just makes me sick. I really can’t stand those kinds of stories. I get this sour feeling in my gut and can't wait until it’s over. The same thing comes when I think of "open marriages." And here I find just such a story in the bible of all places.

Genesis 20 Abraham is at it again. He didn't learn the first time in Egypt so he lies again and says that Sarah is his sister, which we find out is true at least that she is his half sister, but still she is his wife. He is willing to once again give her up to supposedly save his own neck. We still don't know in either one of these situations if his life would have actually been threatened had he kept her as his wife. Abraham lies, Sarah lies, the king takes her to be his wife. But thank God, literally thank God he has a stronger value for the sanctity of marriage then the humans in this story and he sends a dream.

He curses the king, and the king actually calls his advisors to figure out what to do. Thankfully once again they at least follow God on this one even if it is out of fear and return Sarah to Abraham. Then they even pay off Abraham. This is where things get messy for me. Doesn't this just give Abraham incentive to keep on lying? The king even offers him any place he wants to live in his land.

Here is what I had to come to, regardless of the choices that the people in this story made. No matter how stupid they were. God still holds marriage is very high regard. The sanctity of the marriage bed is important enough for him to close the wombs of all the women in the king’s household until Sarah was returned. God is for a loyal and committed marriage! Period!

And yet even in this he gives us grace for the hardness of our own hearts. If we can't handle the unfaithfulness of a spouse he gives us the out of divorce. Even though this is not what he would choose. He longs for us to stay faithful to our spouses and to forgive and love the unfaithful ones right back into a committed marriage. Read Hosea of you don’t believe me. I have seen those marriages where the faithful spouse extends the same grace that God has given to them to the unfaithful partner and I have seen those marriages come back to life.

I am glad God works in the midst of our blunders as he did with Abraham. But my prayer today is for God's grace to work in my marriage before unfaithfulness would come and thankfulness that he has done so thus far. I really don't want to walk the painful road of an affair. I need God in the midst of my marriage everyday so that I never need be sick to my stomach about my own marriage. But for the grace of God there go I. I am so grateful for his saving grace in my marriage.

Let us be faithful to him today in whatever state we find our marital life in. Whether married, single, divorced, remarried, or currently struggling from the aftermath of an affair. God is there with us and he will guide us through.

He extends the same grace to us as we are unfaithful to him. He takes us back and loves us anyway. Paying what we deserve for our betrayal on the cross and taking us back, even if we have made him sick to his stomach. He still takes us back.