Another Wedding

How many weddings have you been to? Do your remember your vows? How about the feelings your were having in that "out of body" moment in your lives?

I just returned from performing another wedding. This one was for my niece which made it even more meaningful. Watching this young couple starting their new adventure with excitement and wonder brought back a rush of memories. They were entrusting their lives to each other in the presence of many witnesses and especially before God. That can be scary as well as wonderful! What will the future be like? How will we really get along?

As Christians our foundation and hope has to be in the promises of God in Christ whether we just got married or have been married for 30 years. Lord willing, this couple will have many years ahead of them in which to grow more deeply in their love for each other and particularly in the sufficiency of Christ's love to help them not merely survive but to thrive.

At the same time this couple was beginning their lifelong commitment another marriage was ending. A couple that started with the same dreams and desires have come to a place where those vows were just a memory. They professed the same love for Jesus and trust in Him.

The statistics are unnerving. The fact that we see this as, just the way things are, is even more upsetting.

At the risk of sounding overly simplistic I think the problem is not always our spouses or our circumstances but the fact that we have lost our first love. I fear the gospel in our marriages has become more medicinal than life changing. It's more about how Jesus fits into our lives than how we MUST live in Him.

The growing obsession for my niece and her husband must be to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." As soon as we begin seeing our commitment to Christ as an appendage or another way to help us stay together we begin to undermine the very vows we took at the beginning.

Don't wait for a ceremony but renew your vows today. In the presence of your spouse and your savior remind each other of what you have declared. "To love, honor and cherish til death do us part." It's not a survival tactic but a biblical mandate sealed with the blood of Christ.

Do it for Jesus' sake.