Feast of St Valentine: marriage devotional #4

                Feast of St. Valentine: Marriage devotional # 4 “Everlasting Covenant”

Matthew 19:5-6;   5“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?  6 “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (NKJV)

Blessed feast of St. Valentine to you all. I hope it was blessed day for all of you.  I promised all of you I would write a four part marriage devotional for you all. This is the final part of this devotional. If you read the other three, I pray that they were inspiring for you.  I pray that they helped you in your relationships. For those of you who don’t know about St. Valentine he was martyred by Rome for marrying couples, after Rome abolished marriage to further the growth of their military.

In the verse above Matt. 19:5-6 Jesus is standing up to the Pharisees for God’s covenant of marriage. The Pharisees challenged Jesus on the subject of divorce. Jesus explains “What God Joined together, let not man separate”.  Jesus later explains in verse 8 “that from the beginning it was not so” when referring to divorce and that Moses only permitted divorce because of people’s hard hearts.  Amen to that. Hardness of hearts. These people didn’t want to fight for their marriages for better or for worst. They wanted an easy way out in case things got tough. Jesus made it crystal clear marriage was meant to be for life since the beginning.

We have the same problems in this day and age that is why divorce rates are so high.  We don’t just have fair weather friends, we also have fair weather spouses! I know I was one. First rough patches in my marriage when I didn’t think the differences in our marriage would get resolved right away, I was looking for a divorce lawyer online! Thank God for showing me how wrong I was. I didn’t need a new marriage I needed a new me! I needed to change not my marriage! My heart was hard I didn’t want fix any problems I was done talking and needed an easy way out or so I thought! I was wrong my marriage was worth the struggle.  I didn’t know how to react to all the problems me and my wife had after our first few years of marriage, well divorce wasn’t the answer. Truth is divorce is never the answer. That is why Jesus said “It wasn’t this way from the beginning”. Adam and eve were together for life we are meant to be also, marriage is an everlasting covenant.  “For better or for worst” as it says in the marriage vows.  Some only hear the better part and not the worst part.

In verse 9 Jesus gives a permission for divorce in the cases of adultery.  Jesus disciples were so shocked that in verse 10  they responded  “it is better for a man not marry” , Jesus response in verse 11 “ Not everyone can accept this teaching but only those it is given to”. Some of you maybe scratching your heads, thinking the same thing Jesus disciples were thinking “I should’ve never got married or it’s better than to never marry”, take it from someone who has struggled in my marriage; marriage is the greatest gift given by God, besides his son Jesus. I wouldn’t trade a minute of my marriage for anything in this world. I wouldn’t even trade the hard parts of my marriage because trials bring perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3).   Life or marriage was never meant to be perfect all the time if it was how would you ever learn and grow? You wouldn’t.

Cherish every moment together, yes even the moments you disagree with each other. Why? Because this life is temporary and anything can happen.  This is why the apostle Paul wrote “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26), you may not get tomorrow to make up for those harsh words you said or harsh actions you took. Plus I’m sure the apostle Paul understood there is absolutely no temporary problem in this world worth staying angry at each other for. This is another reason why God doesn’t want people getting divorced , a good chunk of the problems in a marriage are either temporary  ,or just not worth giving up your marriage for.  Paul gives a command from the Lord in 1 Cor. 7:11 “But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband, and a husband is not to divorce his wife” (NKJV).  The key word is here is reconciliation and not getting a divorce.  But don’t wait reconcile now! Figure out your differences and talk them out now! Don’t lose your marriage over something as silly as you couldn’t figure out your differences together. Both people in a marriage are adults, and can communicate with each other and figure out their problems, if not then ask God for guidance.

I pray for all of you all in marriages that God will strengthen both of you and that you both can communicate effectively with each other in Jesus name amen.

Genesis 2:22-24; 22Then the rib which the Lord had taken from man he made into a woman, and he brought her to man. 23 and Adam said “This is now bone of bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. (NKJV).