When these things had been done, the Jewish leaders came to me and said, “Many of the people of Israel, and even some of the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the other peoples living in the land. They have taken up the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For the men of Israel have married women from these people and have taken them as wives for their sons. So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages. Worse yet, the leaders and officials have led the way in this outrage.” [Ezra 9.1-2]
The problem here is not ethnically mixed marriage.
The problem is spiritually mixed marriage.
Jewish people and their leaders had, again, gotten mixed up with the detestable practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
The lesson for us today is one of great importance. Our "marriage" to God through the work of Jesus, the confession of our sin and faith in His name is in the same trouble when, in our lives, we mix our faith in God with faith in the world. It is an impurity ranking very high in disgust and disdain by our Father God.
How do we mix our faith in God with faith in the world?
The way we mix faith in God with faith in the world is by putting our reliance on the world and its systems for things God said He would take care of! The two most profound impasses of this sort regard our health and our wealth.
When we depend on the world systems of health and wealth, only praying to God when we get in trouble, we have committed adultery against God - we have married ourselves to the world when God said "don't do it."
Father, Your Word is clear about Your wishes for our allegiance and trust. We have 'married' the world though anyway. Forgive us. Forgive me. Show me the path out - help me to divorce the world and its ways and remain true only to You.
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