Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Dear Family:
This week many of our friends and acquaintances have found themselves facing serious life threatening situations. Each has a spouse and family who do not understand why this is happening. These times can be trying times to say the least but need not totally destroy the remaining days. Some peace and comfort is needed.
Someone once said, incorrectly I might add, that the honeymoon is not really over until the 6th or 7th year of marriage. I disagree for many reasons but will only point out a few.
The Bible says that God created woman from the rib of man and brought her to man. The implication, as I see it, is that Christian man does not choose a wife. She is created for him and brought to him by God.
Gen 2:22-25 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.(KJV)
There are several very special things I see in these verses I want to point out:
1. God created woman from a part of the body that protects the heart and is very close to the heart.
2. God custom-made her for man. The price is always higher when it is custom made.
3. He shall cleave (be glued) to her.
4. They two shall be one flesh.
5. They were naked and were not ashamed.
I will leave all but 3 through 5 for you to meditate on and to consider between yourselves. We see in 3 through 5 some tremendous truths. You are glued together as one. Neither of you ever stand alone with the things of this world, you share it all. The good, the bad, sickness and health, until death do you part. During that time you are one, you are naked. While there is a literal meaning here there is also a figurative implication that nothing is hidden from one another. You know one another as no one else knows you. You share things together that no one else can or will share with you. The pains and joy you experience, as one, cannot be expressed in words that others can comprehend. Only you know the depth of despair and height of joy you two have and will share throughout your years.
Deut 24:5 "When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. (NKJ)
Why does God say a man should have a year at home with his new bride? Simple - so they can learn to make each other happy. Unfortunately, in today's society we go on the honeymoon only to celebrate and seldom get to know one another. Later, when the celebration is over, the battle to change or control one another begins. During the course of time one surrenders or departs or else they learn to know and enjoy one another. For some magical reason the real honeymoon doesn't really begin until the 7th year and it gets better and better every year thereafter. The longer they are together, the more alike they become. There are fewer and fewer unknowns between them. They each know the other as they do themselves. The really fortunate ones learn to accept each other as an individual and find true joy in who that individual is. The greatest blessing God gives husbands and wives is the ability to see and love the real individuality in their mate. It is a learning process. It is each learning to know who the other is, not changing the other into some fanaticized image. It is when each can feel what the other feels and think as the other thinks that the image God had in mind when He said "they two shall be as one" can truly be realized.
Eccl 9:9-13 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise, nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all. Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net, and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them. Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me.(NAS)
"Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going."
This is the most amazing statement concerning marriage I have ever found in the scripture. I have never heard anyone say that our reward in this life is our spouse but here it is in God's words. For some unknown reason God blesses some couples with foreknowledge that they will be apart for a while. Why? I think it is pretty simple. He wants to give them a chance to share some moments of unconditional, unrestrained love to bond their spirits together so that the one who must remain behind can do so being forever bonded in spirit knowing the other is only a refreshing thought away.
Christ said to his disciples that when he left, he would send a comforter to live in their hearts. This comforter lives in our hearts as well and will be with us while we are here in the flesh. The comforter communicates to us what he hears from the father and the son. This comforter is God's way of giving us the necessities to go on with our lives not in sadness and despair but in peace and joy cherishing the moments we are given. I have found nowhere in the Bible where it says, "Until death do us part." While we may part in the flesh for a while, God gives us the comforter and the other's spirit that we may never really be apart.
Cherish each moment together, say all that you need and want to say to one another. Do not look back and think "I wish I had"! Bless your children and grandchildren ensuring them of your approval and love. Ask God daily to be present with you. Ask Him to reveal Himself and His love to you and your family and He will.
I love you all,
Chuck
Copyright © 2001 Churcheshosting.com. All rights reserved