FEED THE FIRE
Matthew 19:4-6
He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
This year in parts of Indiana, Ohio and Michigan there in something bad happening with the deer heard... it was reminiscent of 15 or so years ago in South Dakota.
It was a shame... the valley had a stream running for over a mile through the property and all along that stream lay the rotting remains of several deer. A few of the deer were does, but the majority were bucks, mature, trophy bucks. The deer that had died recently still had a white foam coming from their noses.
These deer all died very suddenly from Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD). EHD is a disease that affects whitetail deer and a few other species around the country generally during late summer drought conditions. Often the deer die within hours of being infected. In contrast the other disease that has had the whitetail hunter's world spinning for many years is Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD can take years to kill a deer. Whether hours or years the deer will die.
Too many marriages in our world today are dying or are already dead. Sometimes the blow that shatters a relationship comes like BOMB that you didn't expect like EHD. However, more often than not it is like a slowly growing disease like CWD which infects your relationship slowly eats away at your love for a long time until it dies. What's the cure for that slow death?
What happens to the smiling couple that while standing in a church agree to love each other "till death do them part"? What happens between that day and the day they stand before a judge and ask for a divorce? I recently read where someone described marriage as "a condition in which a woman never gets what she expects, and a man never expects what he gets." While this might be an over simplification, it's true. This happens when we've forgotten what it means to "hold fast" and "become one flesh".
The other day I described to a friend what courtship and marriage is like for many. We can think of it in fishing terms. When fishing and courting we take or best lure out of the tackle box and use it to catch fish. One day we don't use that special lure anymore because the paint has worn off, there are tooth marks in it and the allure of the lure is gone. Too often we allow our marriage relationships go the same way. We quit giving our best and the allure is worn off.
God's plan is never for divorce in a marriage. However, He also doesn't wish for a miserable long battle of a relationship either. He designed marriage to be a loving two party life that is connected directly to Him. A marriage without Christ as the head (all the time) is bound for failure.
In many wedding ceremonies we will hear Ecclesiastes 4:12 quoted, "if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."
In that context the three strands represent the bride, the groom and God Himself. This is what makes marriage work, this is what keeps happiness and Joy in the relationship... keeping God in the very center of the relationship Intertwined in every aspect of the shared life. When we lose that connection and bond we lose the strength of God.
Who doesn't love a campfire? When you keep investing in the campfire by stocking it with more fuel it will last, shining brightly and giving off life sustaining warmth. But If you quit feeding it, rekindling it, it will slowly die until when you look for it it's gone. Nothing is left but a pile of cold gray ashes. This is what happens to a marriage that is not fed good fuel day in and day out... that fuel is a relationship with Jesus Christ and a desire to live out His plan for marriage.
Marriage was God's idea. From the beginning, He made male and female and blessed their union. It's no wonder the enemy tries so hard to destroy the thing that God has blessed. When a marriage is operating according to God's design, it's a powerful force. When it gets off the tracks the power is gone.
Whether your newlyweds or have 40 or 50 years behind you, these requirements are the same. Keep God first and the rest will follow.
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