Ed. Note: This article marks the first of what is intended to be a series of short meditations on marriage. Beginning with Genesis 1, Lord willing, we hope to glean handfuls from God’s Word that will cause joy and help preserve the blessed, divinely appointed marriage institution the lovely picture of Christ and the church so attacked of the enemy. We trust that our God may be pleased to bless these simple thoughts.
During the time I taught computer graphics in college, many of my students were older, having been laid off from work. These “forty somethings,” with families to raise and bills to pay, had a “no nonsense” approach to life. Needing computer skills to be employable, they intently and nervously watched as the competencies they had to master were explained and demonstrated. In order to ease their tension, I often ended my lectures saying, “Have a wonderful day!” With that, anxious frowning faces relaxed as the room filled with the rhythmic tapping sounds of computer keyboards.
God desires that our marriages experience a “wonderful day” every day. He created this blessed union for mankind’s joy and comfort. (“It is not good that the man should be alone.”) But with sin marring everything, how can such marriage joy be sustained? The answer is found at Calvary, where God gave His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, that we might, now and forever, enjoy a “wonderful day.” Married couples who follow this divine pattern in spirit by “giving” to each other will indeed enjoy a “wonderful day,” each day of their lives.
The key for how to give is contained in the first words of the Bible: “In the beginning God.”
In the beginning, each day, together give God praise and worship through prayer and reading.
In the beginning meet each daily circumstance of marriage in His strength which is made perfect in our weakness and by His grace which is sufficient. Thus, no marriage difficulty will be insurmountable.
In the beginning see that every thought, word and deed directed toward your spouse is characterized by “the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit.”
Experiencing a “wonderful day” comes in proportion to our willingness in the beginning to fully submit to God’s Word. Think what joy and satisfaction He who created heaven and earth desires to create and will create in our marriages in the beginning, if He is fully honored and obeyed.
A joyful marriage requires that two husband and wife work together in the beginning, giving themselves to each other as Christ has given Himself.
God has an instruction manual for marriage. Read it carefully and obey it fully in the beginning.
Then, have a wonderful day!
Ed.