A Godly Marriage

I went to a wedding ceremony last night, where a young Christian couple were getting married. Their entire wedding ceremony was based around their mutual faith in God. As I sat in the ceremony, I thought to myself I want a ceremony like that. But as I thought about it more throughout the evening, I decided that the ceremony really didn't matter. Look at celebrity marriages! They are often gorgeous, costing well more than what I make in a year. But more often then not, these marriages don't last and end up in divorce.

I decided that in addition to having a God-saturated ceremony, I wanted to have a marriage that began as a relationship marked with God's blessing. During the wedding last night, the preacher was telling the story of the couple's first date. They got in the car, but before pulling out of the driveway, Patrick (the groom) asked rather timidly if he could pray for their date. Savannah closed her eyes and tried to listen, but all she could think about was how her mother had told her that her father had prayed for their first date. So she wondered silently if this was the one.

After they had been dating six months, they went to a drive in movie. During the perfect moment, Savannah leaned over and whispered softly in Patrick's ear, "I love you." Rather than whisper back something romantic and beguiling, he said frankly, "I don't think we should say that yet."

Pondering this concept of a little more this morning, I decided to look up some scriptures regarding future spouses.

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Wives, submit to your husbandsas the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body of which is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. --Ephesians 5:22-24

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing hey by the washing with water throough the word, and to present herself as a radiant church, without strain or wrinkleor any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same was, husbands ought to love husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves himself loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church- for we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. -- Ephesians 5:25-33

A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds.Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it.Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long. She shops around for the best yarns and cottons, and enjoys knitting and sewing. She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places and brings back exotic surprises. She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast for her family and organizing her day. She looks over a field and buys it, then, with money she's put aside, plants a garden. First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started. She senses the worth of her work, is in no hurry to call it quits for the day. She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth, diligent in homemaking. She's quick to assist anyone in need, reaches out to help the poor. She doesn't worry about her family when it snows; their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear. She makes her own clothing, and dresses in colorful linens and silks.Her husband is greatly respected when he deliberates with the city fathers.She designs gowns and sells them, brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops. Her clothes are well-made and elegant, and she always faces tomorrow with a smile. When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly. She keeps an eye on everyone in her household, and keeps them all busy and productive. Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise: "Many women have done wonderful things, but you've outclassed them all!" Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades. The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God. Give her everything she deserves! Festoon her life with praises!
-- Proverbs 31: 10-31

The following verse talks about overseers and deacons, but who says that it is not also a model for a husband?
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.
Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. -- 1 Timothy 3:1-10

In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. -- 1 Timothy 3:11

Treat younger men as brothers, and younger women as sisters with absolute purity.
-- 1 Timothy 5: 2

Do I Have To, God?

'I am obliged to both Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish'

-Romans 1: 14

When I began my first job, I was a personal assistant. I worked part time for an insurance agent and she always put the things that she wanted me to work on in a filing tray. Somethings were filing, others were phone calls or data entry, but they were all things for me to do.
My employer also had an incoming box. I would never have dared to take something from her box and attempt to do it. Why would I? I did not have the knowledge and experience to know what most of the things even were!
I have often thought that I should have that attitude with God. Somethings are simply not my job. I do not have the knowledge or experience that could compete with His infinite wisdom.

God gave Christians the task of spreading the Gospel in Matthew 28: 16-20, "Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'"
Hmmm. God says all nations, and he did not make any exceptions. We are obliged to everyone, whether we think they are worthy or not.

Whenever I think of us trying to make our own decisions, I always think the passage in Job where Gos answers Job out of a cloud.
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
"Who is this that darkens my counsel
with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone-
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels [a] shouted for joy?
"Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?
"Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
"Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death [b] ?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
"What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
to water a land where no man lives,
a desert with no one in it,
to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
"Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?
Can you loose the cords of Orion?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?
"Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
Who endowed the heart with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mind ?
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
"Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?

-Job 38

So even when, like a child, I ask, "Do I have to, God?" The answer is always yes, no exceptions, no compromises.

Idols

I was reading through the book of Romans today when I came across this verse.

"Although they claimed to be wise, they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." - Romans 1:22

I simply love the part that says they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. I began to wonder how that would look if it were acted out among humans...

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There was a huge banquet planned to celebrate the sucess of a company called Foreman. Foreman's only competitor had just gone bankrupt, allowing Foreman to take over the market for thei rproducts. Every employee was to be invited, to this night of fine wine, food, and speeches to honor the people that made it all possible.

The event took almost a year to plan, but as time drew near, the founder noticed that he did not recieve an invitation. He kept waiting and waiting, but nothing came. He was puzzled but said nothing to anyone, instead, he showed up at the party unannounced to see who exactly was being honored for making his company sucessful.

Much to his surprise, when he came into the hall filled with hundreds of people, he saw not his picture or name anywhere, but that of the products. The inventions that he had made! They had not made the company sucessful, for without him, there were no inventions and products. Disguted, the founder went back to his office. He sat there in the dark for sometime all alone and then finally said resignedly, "Well, they'll come back when they need me."

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Thinking about that story made me feel a little sad, but then made me reflect on how I have done that. I have made many things my idols. My first car, my relationships, my computer, work, even volunteer opportunitues through church! What a shame that we so often exchange the glory of the immortal God for the things that He created.