God’s plan for the home

And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female,'  and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." – Matthew 19.4-6

Marriage is under full scale assault today. The world has taken God’s institution and warped, corrupted, perverted, and made light of it. Huge percentages of the population in the west are simply ignoring marriage. Politicians are now debating who should be allowed to get married. Marriages are being put off and postponed only because couples are choosing to live together and have children before they get married. I guess that is all we can expect from a world that more and more is forgetting God.

It is all getting very complicated and very ugly.

But God’s plan is very simple. God made man and woman. The man is supposed to leave his parents and be joined to his wife. Man and wife are to become one flesh. Their union is to last the rest of their lives. I like the phrase ‘holy matrimony’ for that is what it is supposed to be – a state of holiness which pictures God’s relationship to His people.

I can’t fix the world’s corruption of marriage. I can’t fix all the corruptions of this holy institution. I can’t fix the light way it is treated by people. I can’t fix the light way Christians can sometimes view marriage so lightly. None of that is my job.

I can, however, apply these truths to my life. I can make sure that I treat my marriage the way God wanted it to be. For more than thirty-four years my life has not been my own. Since the 21st of January 1978 I have no longer been my own. My life changed at that moment when David Allen said ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’ When we entered marriage we were young and brash and foolish, but we did make a very clear and conscious decision. This was for real, this was for good, and this was permanent. We decided then than no matter what happened divorce would never be a topic of discussion.

Two becoming one is a challenge. You take two diverse and divergent personalities with their preferences and personalities and ‘persnicketinesses’ and you try to mould and shaper them into a new oneness while still staying individuals.

But that is God’s plan and His plan is perfect. It is what works in His strength and with His help. It is a plan which, even apart from God, brings hope and commitment and stability.

One man, one woman, choosing to love each other and joining together in a marriage which is to last a lifetime.

It is hard to come up with a better plan because this is our God’s plan.