A Closer Walk
"Love is a many splendored thing!" So says the song by the same name. Here is one of the more memorable lines, "In the morning mist, two lovers kissed, and the world stood still!" When you're young and in love and have stars in your eyes love may indeed be a many splendored thing. Because you know, "Everything is beautiful!" from the song by Ray Stevens.
For a married couple the years pass and as they mature their love also matures. It becomes much deeper than simply a many splendored thing. A friend and his wife who formerly conducted marriage retreats and seminars used a triangle to illustrate loving God and loving each other. Imagine a triangle pointed up. At the top point is God. At the bottom points are the husband and wife. As the individuals in this marriage relationship get closer to the Lord, they also get closer to each other. On the other hand, the farther they get from God the farther they get from each other. To see this in a small group setting was very powerful in illustrating the importance of our relationship with our Lord in our individual lives as well as in our individual marriages.
Think about it. Almighty God was creating everything. On the last day He created man and woman, and them to be a couple. "And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him an help meet for him...And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs , and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh," Genesis 2:18 and 21-24 KJV.
The Lord God created the institution of marriage before He created the church. He created man and woman to be together. When marriage unites them they become one flesh. A partnership, if you will. Or a team if we prefer to look at it that way. Or even both. They are still individuals, but now they are one. In facing and doing life together they become closer. Their bond is strengthened. That is particularly true through adversity. The couple that has been together for forty or fifty or sixty years know each other very well. They know each other's likes and dislikes. And they face life and go through life, together. This makes the burdens lighter and the joys bigger. We rely on each other. We count on each other.
We cheer for our spouses to accomplish their dreams and goals; while they cheer the same for us. When we do accomplish a goal, or realize a dream we both cheer and celebrate the accomplishment. We realize that we did this together, as a couple. We look forward to seeing each other every time we are able to be together. And we cherish the times that we have spent together. I believe that our God blesses the institution of marriage. I further believe that the couple together can reach farther and accomplish more than either of them could have on their own. In other words, the total equals more than the sum of the parts.
As Valentine's Day approaches we have an opportunity to remember that our spouses are numbered among our blessings. Perhaps even our greatest earthly blessing. Because love is a many splendored thing. Praise the Lord!