Cherish Your Marriage

by Jan 10, 2017Christian Discipleship, Manhood, Marriage

January 10, 2017

A Tale of Two Wives

Gary Thomas — 

a-tale-of-two-wives

“All right,” the event organizer told me, “here’s your ride. His name is Terry.”

You’ll have to forgive me for catching my breath, as Terry rolled up in a wheelchair.

It was winter in Winnipeg, below freezing, and dark. And my driver, as I already said, was shaking my hand while sitting in a wheelchair.

It turned out to be a wonderful ride, a providential meeting from God that continues to inspire me to this day. Terry’s testimony helped me understand the powerful biblical truth unleashed when we treat our spouse like royalty.

The challenge of cherishing a real spouse is that spouses don’t always act in a way that deserves to be cherished. But one way to maintain a cherishing attitude for our spouse is to honor them for their position. 

Prince George gets a lot of press though we all know he hasn’t actually accomplished anything. Yet as the son of William and Kate, he is filled with royal blood and therefore gets lots of attention.

Spiritually speaking, you married a royal spouse. Traditional Eastern Orthodox weddings celebrate a practice called “crowning.” The bride and groom literally wear connecting crowns (they are joined by a ribbon) as part of the festivities. In days long past, an Eastern Orthodox bride and groom wore those crowns for eight days following the ceremony. Far more typical today, the crowns are removed at the end of the ceremony.

A Christian marriage places us in succession of a long order of “royal couples,” descending from Adam and Eve (the first ones told to “rule over…every living creature that moves on the ground” Gen. 1:28), Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, David and Bathsheba, Zechariah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary. It’s a recognition that Christian marriage is about more than happiness and children—it’s about testifying to God’s long-term plan to bring humanity back from the Fall to reclaim God’s world through the Messiah. We are royal representatives through whom God spreads his reign and builds his kingdom.

Rev. 22:5 tells us that God’s followers “will reign for ever and ever.”

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