On Friday June 26, 2009, I had the opportunity to take part and be in the wedding of Jessica Duff and Josh Owens in my home church. It was a beautiful wedding. When the wedding ceremony is taking place, the preacher has the bride and groom exchange wedding vows to one another. They are sacred in the eyes of God. However, when many couples say their wedding vows, there are three words that many couples before an altar totally ignore. They are sickness, worse, and poorer. It's not difficult for a couple to stay together when it's in health, better, and richer. But many couples have a difficult time staying together when times are lean. However, it's the lean times which say a lot about a marriage. God grants no right for a divorce because times are tough. With a marriage, you'll experience both good and bad times. Sometimes the bad more than the good.
Matthew 19:4-6 says, "And he answered and said unto them. Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female. And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder." God doesn't leave any room for divorce. A couple is joined together in holy matrimony and it's devastating when the marriage is split apart. It was never God's intention for a couple to divorce. There are some situations when a separation is necessary; but not divorce.
In Ephesians 5:21-33 God compares the husband-wife relationship to His relationship to the church. A husband is to love and treat his wife like Christ treats the church. Jesus gave himself for the church. It's a great mystery. He's there for His people through thick and thin. Jesus said that he will never leave nor forsake us. If that be so, just think what God expects in a marriage relationship. You won't see Jesus forsaking his bride when the bride goes through trials and tribulations. God doesn't desert his children. The Bible says I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread. God is a faithful God. He's good to His children. Never one time does He abandon them. Now he chastens us for our own good, but he doesn't forsake us.
It's a shame many husbands and wives don't understand that an earthly marriage is compared to the body of Christ. If we want to see what an example of a Godly marriage should be, we should read how Jesus treats the church. If a couple will be faithful to one another when times are lean, God will bless it and their relationship can be very sweet and precious because they hung together.
Today we live in a selfish society where we take the things of God lightly; including the institution of marriage. Even the church does that. It's important that every couple that marries make a determination to allow Christ to be head of their home. Without Jesus, it will be very difficult to make it through the dry and lean times.
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