Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 19 is Jesus' teaching on marriage. It was difficult to hear then, and is still difficult for so many to hear today.
In our first reading from Ezekiel 16, the LORD has a message for Jerusalem. He tells of how he adorned her with great beauty and splendor. Then this: "But you were captivated by your own beauty, you used your renown to make yourself a harlot, and you lavished your harlotry on every passer-by, whose own you became."
This can easily happen, on an individual and a corporate level. I believe it has even happened in our nation today. You become captivated with your beauty and greatness. You think you're all that and a bag of chips. You forget that that beauty and greatness was not of your own making, but a gift from God. And so you become your own God, making your own rules. It has happened before and will happen again. Yet it never ends well.
Father, forgive us for our own hubris, individually and corporately. May we always recognize you as the giver of all gifts. Amen.
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