standing on the street corner giving out favors

" 'You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.' "

-Ezekiel 16:32-34

I've never thought of myself as a prostitute, a person who just freely gives away all that she has. Yet, it is scary to think that when we sin against God and disobey Him, we act as prostitutes.

Here before us is the most romantic marriage. A husband who adorns his wife with treasures beyond treasures, jewels of the most prized. A husband who promises to never forsake us, to be with us in sickness and in health, for better or worse, richer or poorer. A husband who picked us up when we were weak and saw us grow beautifully in his eyes. A husband who we belong to. And YET, we cheat like no other. Every time we lust after another, we forget about our husband who waits at home for us. When we rely on ourselves for everything, we forget that our husband already has everything lined up for us. Although we say we love him, our actions speak otherwise. We make ourselves prostitutes to the world. We seek other evil desires to satisfy us forgetting where our ultimate satisfaction comes from. UNlike prostitutes, however, when we do these things, when we sin, we don't get a payment. We don't get a reward for our actions. Instead, we must pay ourselves. We pay the price of humiliation and shame when we face our husband. The world may tempt us, but we are the ones who ultimately fall on our own.

But, God (man, He is good) is still that faithful husband. He does not want to leave us. He can't bear the sight of not having us for his wife. So, He gives us Jesus to signify the everlasting covenant He has made with us. Back in the Old Testament, things with God were much rougher because there was no Jesus yet, it was only the promise of Jesus to come. Israelites could only look ahead to that promise and prepare themselves with that knowledge. But here today, we have Christ's death and resurrection to mend our relationship with God and establish an eternal marriage. How great is that? Here is God tugging on our heartstrings, wanting us to be His alone, and what will we do? We can't help but turn away from our past and fall crazy in love with Him.