I adore my wife. She is the heart of my heart. I long for her, I strain to show her my love and feel hers returned to me in our embrace. Too often my love for her is so great she thinks I hug her too tight.

I can imagine loosing her to another man. I would be devastated. My life would feel over, betrayed and taken from me. Perhaps it is insecurity that makes me even able to imagine that tragedy.

It is easy to see why I grow uncomfortable watching plots unfold on the silver screen in which the heroes are caught up in extramarital affairs. Often that feeling is so intense that I am agitated, tense and furious. Previews for the show “Desperate Housewives” have that effect on me. I can’t believe real women are like that.

Yet that is how Israel acted toward God. What did he do to drive them away? He lavished love on them in miraculous, powerful way – a super tight embrace. I am amazed at God’s desire for intimacy. His desire for relationship pervades his judgments.