Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

But take heart! I have overcome the world."'
The words soothed the raw places in jade's soul. She had read
the verse dozens of times over the years, but now it was as though she were hearing it for the first time...
understanding a truth she'd always missed. The Lord hadn't only overcome the world's trouble, He had
overcome hers. Personally.
Tears swam in her eyes and she studied Pastor Steve's face. "I never thought of it that way" She reached
for a tissue in the pocket of her wheelchair. "Like God had already-" she looked down at her chair and
back at the pastor-"overcome this."
Pastor Steve hesitated. "There's more. Let's talk about marriage and divorce. I've been asked about this so
often that one day I wrote a brief explanation. It's something I printed up for people like you, people with
these questions and concerns." He stood and headed for his office, which adjoined the front of the
sanctuary. "I'll be right back."
Seconds later he returned with a preprinted card. The front read, "In case you wonder..."
Jade opened it and began to read:
I
Dear friend, I appreciate your questions about God's view
on marriage and divorce. While I do not have the definitive
answer in this matter, I have searched the Scriptures
on the issue. In that light, I would like to give you my
understanding of Christ's position, as I see it in the Bible.
Each of the Gospels talks about divorce to some degree. However, the text in Matthew 19:9 says, "I tell
you
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that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits
adultery."
I've thought and thought on this verse, and in trying
to understand it I've used the word replacement method.
In the following examples I've replaced the key words
from that verse, but kept the sentence structure the same.
Here goes:
Anyone who eats pizza, except for cheese pizza, will
get heartburn.
Who doesn't get heartburn? The person who eats
cheese pizza. Let's try another:
Anyone who lies in the sun, except for the one who
wears sunscreen, will get burned.
Who doesn't get burned? The one who wears sunscreen.
Or this one:
Anyone who misses school, except for illness, will
receive a fail.
Who doesn't receive the fail? The one who misses
school because he's sick.
Many people will argue that once a married person is
divorced, they must never remarry because to do so
would result in adultery Yes, there are verses that say this,
but there is also Matthew 19:9.