When kids get married, the phrase," until death do us part," that they repeat as a part of their wedding vows flows, quickly, and almost unnoticed, from their lips. It's the thing that is said at weddings. Granted, it is a very weighty five words, yet it seemingly makes little sense at the moment. The couple is in love and just beginning their life's journey, and death is far from their supposed reality. "Eternal love" is just starting. However, during their lifelong trip, the truth or falsity of those five words will be played out.
In olden times we thought that marriage was forever. Unless your parents had suffered a divorce, marriage was a spiritual chemistry experiment that lasted until the last breath of one or both of its participants. For a kid brought up in a home where Dad loved Mom and Mom loved Dad, and both loved God, divorce was a curse word.
Thank you, Father God!
My, no, our marriage has been a God blessed experience. Never has divorce been mentioned nor contemplated. Spats and differences of opinion are sporadic when two sinners live together. In the Christian experience, they are perceived as an expected but rare part of the fabric of married life. Being able to share life is worth that variation of understanding.
As we age in our relationship, we begin to think and act as one. It's not that we lose our individualism or variety of personalities and ideas; it is just that we know our partners' likes and loves.
When God brought Eve to Adam, I can imagine the wonder he felt as the electricity of love shocked his system. He was looking at the most beautiful of God's creations, and she was to be his. His statement, in Genesis 2:23, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for God took her from within man." sounds comical and not a bit romantic at first. However, I believe that Adam was expressing his love incredibly. He was saying, "This person is part of me!" And he was elated by this understanding.
We never read anything good about Adam and Eve's married life. Adam lived 932 years. How was it to live that long with one person? Whatever the case, we can learn a lot about God's ideal for marriage by examining this couple. When they obeyed God, they walked together with him in perfect fellowship. When they entertained ideas other than those God presented, that fellowship went south. Disobedience brought unforeseen terrors and immense shame.
Thus the marriage bond needs to be the glue that connects us to each other to God. No God means no peace; know God to know marital peace and safety. It's worth every moment.
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