Picture This

Bev and I celebrate our 37th anniversary this week.

I'm looking at a picture of our wedding day - who are those people!? We also attended a wedding this past weekend of a young couple who were just staring their pilgrimage. What will they look like in 10,20 or 30 years? Not just physically but in their maturity.

We all want to look good but we also want to grow good.

Picture this. A couple who endure together and grow together for decades and "look" better than when they first started out. One author says it this way,

"Merely making our relationships last is just not good enough. Our relationships can change us. Our relationships should change us. Our relationships will change us for the better - if we are willing to take the risk."

As we commit to the long haul we actually become more mature individually and as a couple. We sharpen each other and grow even more in our love for each other. We have to daily commit to our vows which really is a commitment to self-denial and love. Like a song in my younger days says, "Did you ever have to make up your mind? Pick up on one and leave the other behind. It's not often easy and not often kind. Did you ever have to make up your mind?"

But picture this. What if your marriage actually started looking more and more like Jesus? What if your commitment to Christ was not merely a compartment of your life but the very essence. What difference should we as Christians have as compared to the rest of the world? Should it not be that there is an ever increasing picture of an image of Jesus that others are drawn to?

One of the greatest prayers found in scripture is in Ephesians 3 and one of the greatest requests is in Paul's phrase, "...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith..."if that was the heart cry of every Christian couple there would be some beautiful pictures out there.

Picture this. A newly married couple coming up to you and asking to take your picture because they see something in you they want in their own marriage. The camera doesn't capture it but there is something in your lives that shows it.

May the picture of Jesus be seen in your marriage today.