Good day dear friends.
Please remember to keep Kim Burke and family in your prayers. Tomorrow at our church we will host the funeral for Juanita Ladish. Juanita in recent days had joined Buda UMC and Pastor Mark Porterfield will be officiating in this funeral. The funeral is at 1 p.m.
We talked about "successful marriages" not perfect marriages yesterday. We stressed very clearly and some of you loudly, "There is NO such thing as a perfect marriage" unless you want to agree with Pastor Leslie's dad in his assessment that the perfect marriage is cake and ice cream, which made for an excellent prop. A successful marriage is one which is guided by God and the couples truly take seriously that the marriage covenant includes three parties especially the "party of the first part" who is God.
Here is our study guide for today.
Monday: Yesterday’s text is the basis for what many call the plan of God for marriage. What could you use to support or refute that claim? The passage also has God creating woman out of the man’s rib. What symbolism could you draw from that part of the body being the source of woman? What could be said about the words, “helpmeet,” or “companion” or “partner” in the different versions of the Bible? (v. 18)
Here is that text from yesterday, Genesis 2:22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken." 24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.
There was a poster from the 60s or 70s that had something to the effect of "God did not make woman from the foot to be stepped on or from ... etc... God made woman from the rib so that she could walk alongside the man..." I don't remember the exact wording but I do remember the point. From the rib, part of the rib cage that protects the most important organs in the body, comes this fair creature to walk alongside the man. Those who enjoy successful marriages will testifiy to the blessings that are ours in being married. We hear more of the jokers and critics that say marriage is an institution with no chance of parole or escape or that the leading cause of divorce is marriage; but if you truly seek to glorify God in your marriage you are blessed, your spouse is blessed, your children are blessed, your church is blessed, and society is blessed. We tend to joke about what a pain it is to be married or that we should discourage others from "making the same mistake," but truth be told, a successful, God-guided, God-powered marriage is the best thing for life.
Much can be said about the role of woman in a marriage through what we read earlier in the chapter about the rationale for having woman even created, but in truth God was setting forth the need for both the man and the woman to enter into this union to care for each other and to carry on the human race.
As long as parents are modeling in their own marriages the blessing that can be a successful marriage and love, shared by God and by both the husband and the wife, the future of marriage is secure. The children of such marriages will want that for themselves.
PRAYER: Visit, o God, the marriages of those we know and love. Visit the hearts, minds and spirits of those who are struggling in their relationships and bring to them Your presence of grace and love. We thank you for Your willingness to be involved in all aspects of our lives, including our marriages. So, come Lord Jesus, come. In Thy name. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
