Proverbs 5:18-19 “Bless your fresh-flowing fountain! Enjoy the wife you married as a young man! Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose-don't ever quit taking delight in her body. Never take her love for granted!”
Titus 2:4, 5
“By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of their behavior.”
What does the Lord want a husband to do? These verses leave no doubt. He wants the husband to "rejoice" in his wife; He wants him to "be delighted" with her; He wants him to "never take her love for granted".
To "enjoy" is to express your happiness with her. To tell yourself, your wife, and others how glad you are she is yours. To "delight in her" is to want no one else. To "never take her love for granted" means to be "constantly aware of her importance in your life.”
The Lord doesn't tell you to rejoice in just an image of your wife, but in your wife herself. This is important, for a man may well rejoice in his wife--if she's just what he wants her to be--but if she isn't he becomes disillusioned. God wants you to rejoice in your wife as she is--"warts and all".
How long are you to do that? Not till you have your first fight; not till the baby is born, but always. "Always appreciate her love...let her delight you at all times".
Solomon is a great lover; he wants every husband to be this way. In another place, he says, "Live joyfully with the wife you love all the days of your life". In his Song of Songs, he promises an eternal devotion to his young wife. And more than devotion, it's a lifelong honeymoon. To him, "blissful wedlock" is forever.
Every husband should feel this way; but let's face it, not every man does. To help you enjoy your wife more, allow me to offer three suggestions from God’s Word:
-The Will of Christ. Your Savior wants you to enjoy your wife. The word "rejoice" is in the imperative mood. That means it is a command. It's also in the present tense, which means it is a standing order and not a temporary or occasional matter. It is not a matter of your feelings, but of His Lordship. Jesus Christ wants you to enjoy your wife. Whoever you are; whatever she is like. If you have a wife, our Lord wants you to enjoy her. If you don't, you're sinning. And the sin may be worse than you think it is. At the least, it is ungrateful to God. Your wife is a gift, given to be enjoyed. If you don't enjoy her, you despise the gift...and the One who gave it. No verse in the Bible more aptly describes the wicked than Romans 1:21: "Neither were they thankful". Does this apply to you? Do you want it to? If not, start enjoying your wife. The will of Christ is a high and pure motive. "His commandments are not grievous".
-Your witness to the world. Marriage points to something beyond itself. Paul tells us what it is: "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church". Human marriage is the visible image of that union between our Lord and His people. Does Christ enjoy His people? If so, let every husband enjoy his wife! The man who despises his wife dishonors his Savior. To adapt I John 4:20, "If a man says he enjoys God and despises his wife is a liar; for if he does not enjoy his wife, whom he has seen, how can he enjoy God whom he has not seen?"
What are our marriages witnessing to the world? That Christ loves His Church so long as it's doing precisely what He tells it? Or that He loves the Church, but remembers its every fault? Or that He'd rather be without His Church? Or maybe be with another? Our prayer should be that God would sanctify our marriages and make them the witness they were designed to be. Do you "want the world to believe"? If so, you must enjoy your wife.
-Your family's welfare. A happy marriage is good for everyone. It's good for your wife who wants to be wanted. It's good for your children, who learn what marriage can be. And feel secure at home.
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