I have frequently performed medical procedures on young children under anesthesia, and have seen many tattered rag dolls, teddy bears and blankets being wheeled in with the patients into the operating room. The operating room staff always treat each of these special objects with utmost respect – they ask the child for the its name, promise to take good care of it, and make sure that it is securely at the child's side as the anesthesia is administered. We know that each of these treasures, though nearly always worn out and sometimes unattractive, is a child's source of security and comfort, and nothing in the world is good enough to replace it. The child does not want someone else's special doll or teddy bear, even if it is bigger, prettier and more colorful.
Most of us eventually would lose our attachments to these special toys and security blankets; however, we continue to find within our possessions objects of unique affection and significance that we treasure to the consternation of others. It might be a soiled, faded and stinky baseball cap that has been worn at every fishing trip for the last 20 years, or a special gift from a loved one that does not appear particularly attractive to the uninitiated. These are our belongings that no one else wants, and if they belong to others, we don't want them. They are kind of like underwear.
I never gave much thought to the significance of one's underwear until a few years ago, when I discovered in my pile of cleaned laundry a pair of white briefs that clearly wasn't mine. My family and I just recently returned from a vacation to Cancun, and I must had inadvertently taken someone else's Fruit of the Loom at one of the swimming pools. Oops. By then this wayward pair of underwear had already been thoroughly washed and dried, but the first thought that came to mind was that I would never, ever consider putting on underwear that has been worn by someone else. It wouldn't have mattered whether this was designer label, premium quality stuff – the idea of putting on something that had intimately caressed and protected another person was repulsive and unthinkable. Used cars and computers, no problem. T-shirts or shoes, maybe. Loin-covers, no way.
I wonder whether the reason we make such distinctions in our treatment of special rag dolls and baseball caps is because God made us that way in His infinite wisdom. When He gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites in the desert, He declared,
“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3)
God's people were solemnly charged not to worship the gods of the Egyptians, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Canaanites, or any other people. Today, God continues to command us, as creations in His own image, to place Him above all things, before all things. Through our special possessions in our lives we learned that not all things are equal, and we treat certain ones with special affection. Having developed this tendency to distinguish between the special and the common, God then demands that we treat Him and His name with highest honor and respect.
In addition to giving God the highest place in our lives, he also commanded that we give special consideration to some individuals above all others. He commanded that we honor our fathers and mothers, and in the seventh commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.”(Exodus 20:14)
When I obey God's commandment against adultery (or any form of marital infidelity, for that matter), I am agreeing with Him that marital union is the most sacred of all human relationships, and that I must allow nothing to break it – not an old flame, not someone else who is younger or more attractive, not someone else who seems to understand and respect me. It is a union that no one else can truly understand. The thought of committing adultery should be unthinkable and repulsive...kind of like sleeping with someone else's smelly blanket instead of my own. Actually it's more like wearing someone else's dirty underwear.
May it never be.
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