"For I hate divorce," says the Lord, the God of Israel (Malachi 2:16).

I don't just hate divorce. I sometimes hate even the vocabulary of divorced people. The way they sometimes talk breaks my heart. The banter sounds something like this:

"Well, I don't have to have her back until 10. Surely, he won't get mad if I keep her a little longer." Or, "Well I can't pick my kids up till 9 and they leave at 12, so we won't be able to do dinner." Or, "This is not my weekend. My kids cannot go."

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More from my J.C. Ryle devotional (see previous post). This is the entry for January 24 titled Most Important Doctrine:

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. -1 Corinthians 2:2

There is no doctrine in Christianity so important as the doctrine of Christ crucified.

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Those who know me, know my favorite pastor-theologian from the 19^th century to read is the Anglican Bishop, J.C. Ryle. Last year I read the daily devotional Our Great Redeemer: 365 Days with J. C. Ryle compiled by Bryan Schrank. Although I am not a guy who feels compelled to read a devotional every day, this one was far and away my favorite of the dozens I have read over the last two decades. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, that I just picked it up today and started all over!

Here's the entry for January 1, titled "Are You Ready for the New Year?"

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this is judgment. HEBREWS 9:27

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