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you paid a fee instead

Ezekiel 16:30-34 (JDV)

Ezekiel 16:30 ” ‘How your heart was inflamed with lust – the declaration of the Lord Yahveh – when you did all these things, the acts of a domineering prostitute,
Ezekiel 16:31 building your mound at the head of every street and making your elevated place in every square. But you were unlike a prostitute because you scorned payment.
Ezekiel 16:32 You adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband!
Ezekiel 16:33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors.
Ezekiel 16:34 So you were the opposite of other women in your acts of prostitution; no one solicited you. When you paid a fee instead of one being paid to you, you were the opposite.

you paid a fee instead

When the LORD tells Ezekiel what kind of people the inhabitants of Jerusalem have been, he describes them as having the most wonderful advantage of being welcomed into the home of a loving husband — the LORD himself. But instead of being faithful to the husband who lavished his love and provision on her, Jerusalem sought other lovers. She was actually worse than a prostitute, since she paid a fee instead of one being paid to her.

Such is the result of a sinful life. In the end, you discover that you have actually given your life away instead of finding it. The wages of sin are always paid by the sinner.

LORD, strengthen our respect for you and ourselves. Show us how to stop giving away our lives for sin.