31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Ephesians 5:31-33
I’ve been thinking about these verses this week for a couple of reasons. The first has to do with weddings. Weddings have always been a great feature of our life together at Rockport. That’s something we should always rejoice in and never take for granted! What a joy to watch our children grow up in Christ, fall in love with a fellow believer, and be joined together as God commands to begin a new family of their own. So it was awesome to be a part of Will and Julian’s special day yesterday along with Pastor Kyle and Phoebe. And, of course, we are looking forward to own daughter Kim’s marriage to Jason in about three months.
The other reason I’ve been thinking about this passage and others like it has to do with the fact that today is my and Amy’s 40th Anniversary. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since we were those two kids, still in college, no money to speak of, no idea what life is about or where it would take us! But we knew we were in love and wanted to get married. And so we prayed for God to be our help and lead us to establish a home that would last and bring honor to Him. I won’t lie to you and say that it was easy. Amy and I had our good days, to be sure, but also our bad. We were both pretty immature – me especially, I think. We didn’t know how hard it would be for two sinners to learn to love and follow Christ the way He commands. But by God’s grace we did know that, come what may, we could trust in Him. That’s the one thing above all that has gotten us through both the good and the bad and helped us realize that on the other side of it all, God is faithful and good and He is our help!
I can’t imagine sharing this life with anyone else. Amy and I have so much to be thankful for and, I am convinced, to look forward to in Christ.
Giving thanks to God for the sanctifying grace of Christian Marriage.
Pastor S Scott Lee