Daily Devotional For Saturday, January 3, 2026
Good morning Southside. Thank you for taking the time to meditate with us as we make our way through the Gospel of Matthew. The passage we are currently in is such a sensitive subject, we are taking several days to work our way through Jesus’ teaching on this. We are picking up with the same passage we looked at yesterday with Matthew 19:1-12:
“When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; (2) and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. (3) Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?’ (4) And He answered and said, ‘Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, (5) and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? (6) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.’ (7) They said to Him, ‘Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?’ (8) He said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.(9) And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.’ (10) The disciples said to Him, ‘If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.’ (11) But He said to them, ‘Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. (12) For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it’” (NASB).
Any husband and wife who has remain married for years knows this to be true. They have faced challenges in their marriage. This includes enduring boredom, suffering evil and sins committed. I like what New Testament scholar Daniel M. Doriani says:
“I used to feel sorry for goldfish—what a miserable existence, going around and around that little bowl. Every five seconds they see the same plastic pirate ship, treasure chest, and palm tree. How boring. But perhaps you have heard of the researchers who determined to study the memory of goldfish (or carp) and somehow discovered that (with certain exceptions) goldfish have a short-term memory of three seconds. Therefore the goldfish’s five-second tours of the fishbowl are actually full of excitement. Every five seconds the fish is astonished: Whoa! Look! A pirate ship! A treasure chest! In honor of this scientific discovery, our household now has a term to describe the phenomenon when one tells another something and the other completely forgets it within three seconds—goldfishing” (Source: Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary, “Matthew 1-28,” Vols. 1 & 2, pp. 169-170).
For couples who remain married for years, they can suffer what I call “goldfish boredom” – going around and around and around with the same old stuff, routines, schedules, etc. As they do this, they want some "excitement" in their marriage and relationship. Some are prone to look elsewhere because in our American culture today, often their peers encourage this. But there are others who look at this differently. They do not see such routines as boring, but opportunities of enjoyment. For example, every August, fresh peaches come to stores. Do you not enjoy them because this happens routinely every year? The same experience is true with fresh strawberries, or blueberries, or apples, or oranges.
Every Fall, football starts. On one side are 11 men trying to score and on the opposite side are another 11 men trying to stop the scoring. This is routine and stadiums are packed with fans. In winter, we have 5 guys on one side in basketball and 5 guys on the other side. Yet, arenas are packed. What is true with any and all sports is true with marriage. A simple kiss in the morning, a hug before bedtime, or walking together holding hands, can all seem routine and repetitive but these “goldfish” experiences are often what helps hold the marriage together.
All good marriages suffer evil, but all good marriages have couples doing evil against one another in them. For example, diseases and sin are evils, not sin. Many couples are facing the evil of a spouse that is chronically sick or battling a terminal illness. This takes a toll on the marriage. I think snoring is evil, but not a sin! (HA). Loss of sleep might lead you to sin, but snoring itself is not a sin. I do not think in 40 years of ministry I have ever had a couple call me and say, “We just want you to know that our marriage is great. Our work is great. Our walk with the Lord is great. Good-bye.” All marriages, even the best, have struggles. To think that the ‘grass is greener' elsewhere is misleading. It might be but someone has put a lot of time, money and energy into keeping it greener.”
Whether it is enduring boredom, suffering evil and sins committed, we have to remind ourselves that God designed marriage in heaven and then gave it to Adam and Eve. God created Adam and Eve to complement each other. We see this in Genesis 2:23. They were similar enough to be comfortable with one another “bone of my bone” and they were different enough to be interesting. God had created them in such a way they would be comfortable, not bored, interesting, companions and co-laborers. Then sin entered the world and it was not long before Cain murdered his brother Abel. And from Genesis on we see the horrific evil and destruction of sin. Eventually in the Law, Moses gave a provision for divorce (See Deut. 24:1-4).
As we saw previously, what constitutes “shameful” or “unpleasing?” Unbiblical Rabbis said this could include burning his dinner, getting wrinkles, getting gray hair. refusing to clean” and etc. Therefore, men started divorcing their wives for any and all things. The Bible tells us to flee from sin, not from relationships (see Matt. 18:15-17). We live in a culture where things are expendable. Some now even see that relationship are as well. In Jesus’ day, men viewed marriage as a contract and unfortunately many couples do today. If someone does not live up to my terms, then they think, “I divorce them. I cancel the contract” Contracts come with escape clauses.
The Bible describes marriage as a covenantal commitment between a husband and a wife that is a permanent and exclusive relationship between a man and a woman. Covenantal commitment means marriage is a sacred bond, structured by God, witnessed by God and held together by God. In the Bible, covenants cannot be broken no matter what. We see this in Malachi 2:14 and in Proverbs 2:16-17. Jesus, when asked about this, goes back to Genesis – one man, one woman. No room for polygamy, same-sex and etc. Marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman. When Jesus says “a man shall leave his father and mother” implies that a man leaves the strongest bond and relationship of his childhood and teens to forge a new relationship that is stronger than to his parents. Children are born and they come and go. Brothers and sisters are born and they come and go, BUT the one relationship that is permanent and stays – is marriage. We will look more at this on Sunday.
Assignment: Do you know of anyone who sees that relationships are like a contract and thus can be broken for unfulfilled expectations? Do you view marriage this way? If you are married, what hardship, challenges, moments of boredom, suffering, evil and sins committed have you experienced? How and why did you survive them? If you could give advice to a couple planning to get married, what would that be?
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud (5) or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. (6) It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. (7) Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (NLT). (Put your name in place of love, then think about how you should treat others, especially your husband or wife.)
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, help me to trust in Your structure of marriage as a covenantal commitment and not a contract. Help me, when things are tense to not throw in the towel, but to throw out the devil because he is the real enemy according to Ephesians 6:12. It is so easy to see the enemy as my spouse at times. Give me the determination to love and cherish my spouse no matter what. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly