The other day I heard someone say this world has “Gone to hell in a handbasket”. This American phrase came about during the American Civil War and has spread to other countries since then. It basically means to go to one’s doom, to deteriorate quickly, to proceed on a course to disaster. With all that is going on in the world today, I think I understand why that person said it.
1 John 5:19 states “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.” I am not sure this world can go to hell in a handbasket; basically its already there; after all, did not GOD let Satan rule it until the appointed time? I do believe that individuals can choose to go to hell in a handbasket. As I type, tears form at the thought of so many choosing Hell. Those same individuals have removed GOD from so many places and warped the WORD of GOD in many other places resulting, in my opinion, an acceleration of GODlessness in our world.
I do not believe it possible for any human to generate a list of all the GODlessness in our world today and worse the results of that GODlessness on our society. I do think that divorce might be something high on that list. It is estimated that over 50% of marriages end in divorce. Current data seems to show that number dropping. This would be a good thing except data suggest the number is dropping because of social changes where instead of marriage people just chose to live together.
Genesis chapters one through eleven may be the most important chapters in the Bible as they lay the foundation for everything moving forward. In Genesis 1:27, we are told “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” In Genesis 2:24, GOD says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus says, “Haven’t you read,’ he replied, ‘that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Our GODless world has worked hard to deny these Biblical facts, maybe because as Paul tells us in Romans 1:28, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;”. It very well may be that GOD has already done this in many parts of the world including the United States of America.
In Mark 10:9, Jesus says, “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” I once heard of a Christian couple seeking a divorce because they were tired of each other. They then proceed to state that since they got married at a courthouse by a judge and not a pastor, God would be okay with their divorce. Is it this kind of worldly or GODless thinking that leads to a debased mind? If you take the entire WORD of GOD, I think it is clear that GOD does not like divorce. As seen from the beginning it was not in his plan for our world; divorce is another result of the fall of man into sin. I have mixed feelings about divorce except for adultery. I think Jesus makes it clear in Matthew that adultery is grounds for divorce. If you are divorced or thinking about divorce, I would recommend watching Mike Winger’s “Divorce and Remarriage: EVERYTHING the Bible Says About It”. I think he does a great job explaining many of the issues surrounding divorce while focusing on what the Bible has to say about them. In today’s world, one may not even have a choice about divorce. If one spouse cheats, walks out the door, and says I want a divorce because of today’s uncontested divorce society there is not much the other partner can do. I fear this has become the norm for this world.
You may be wondering, is he going to make a point? The point is if you find yourself looking for a spouse that exhibits Biblical LOVE in today’s world it may be difficult to find, especially if you do not let the Holy Spirit lead you. There are fewer and fewer people that believe in Christianity and of those that do call themselves Christian the majority live by the beliefs of the world and not those found in the WORD. I think these may be the people mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:3; “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” If you are looking for a Christian spouse you may want to think about what that really means in today’s world.
As you pray for a spouse, you might want to consider what criteria you would like in a Godly spouse and if there are any deal breakers? If you are younger your criteria may look very different than someone older. If you are over forty there is a good chance that anyone single over that age is divorced and may have children. Do you factor this into your criteria? If you do, do you factor in the cause of the divorce? Maybe you are divorced, does that change your criteria as you search for a spouse?
When the Holy Spirit put it on my heart to open an online dating account, thoughts about divorce did not really register in my mind; however, once I entered the online dating world I would guess that over 90% of everyone there were divorced. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I quickly determined the top two criteria that mattered the most to me. First, any woman that I might date must be a “FOLLOWER OF CHRIST”; not just someone that calls themselves a Christian. Melinda was a very GODly woman, she set the bar very high, and I just could not accept anything less. Second, if the woman was divorced then the grounds for divorce would need to be that her former husband committed adultery and abandoned her.
If you have not, I would highly recommend you think about the criteria that are important to you in a GODly spouse. I would then suggest that you write them down and pray over them daily; asking God to send that person into your life. Few people knew that Melinda created such a list and prayed on it often. After we dated for a few weeks, she told me about her list. She said that with the exception of not being a TAMU graduate I matched everything on her list. We used to joke that she married me anyway even if I was a Baylor grad. Looking back I am not sure I meet as many of those criteria as she thought, but she always told me she knew GOD had sent me to her because of that list. If you are looking for LOVE in a GODless world a list can help you pray and could very well help you know when that person comes into your life.
I pray that if you are looking for love in this world that GOD will send you the person you are praying for, but if you do not know JESUS, I pray you find HIS LOVE first. There is nothing in this world that can compare. It is through the love of Jesus, becoming a Follow of Christ, and reading your Bible daily that you will understand verses like Luke 21:16-19 “Even those closest to you—your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends—will betray you. They will even kill some of you. And everyone will hate you because you are my followers. But not a hair of your head will perish! By standing firm, you will win your souls.” Worldy love does not compare to the love we have in Jesus. If the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, it will not matter to us that know Christ as this world is not our home.
If you do not know Jesus reach out today. He is always waiting for you to open the door and Heaven wants to rejoice over your salvation.
