SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 5:22-33
“…“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband…” (Ephesians 5:31-33)
As we conclude our monthly focus, ‘Living With Eternity in View’, we will, this week, be looking at present day realities that act as glimpses of eternity. Because these realities have been marred by sin and do not present the whole picture, our conversation, therefore, will be, ‘Eternity’s Broken Mirrors’. We begin with the whole question of marriage.
Unfortunately, marriage has come to be despised, and even hated by some people. You have probably heard from some quarters, “Kitu tunaogopa ni uji moto na ndoa.” Indeed, there are those whose lived experience of marriage is/was not a pleasant one. It could be that you are one of those. With that said, God’s idea and intention for marriage was glorious – He intended that it would be a pointer of the union between Christ and His Bride, the Church. The relationship between the husband and wife is meant to act as a mirror between that of the relationship between Christ and the Church. The husband’s sacrificial loving headship and the wife’s joyous submission are critical elements of this picture. Just as Christ has enjoined Himself with His Bride, so the husband and wife become one flesh. This seems to be the thrust of Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians’ husbands and wives, and by extension to us.
Unfortunately, our marriages are broken, even the best of them. We have learnt to take our cue of marriage from the society as opposed to the Scriptures. We turn our marriages into fierce battlegrounds as opposed to loving places. Yet, if we are to realise both the purpose and blessing of God over marriage, we must seek to look at the perfection that marriages point to. Husbands must learn from Christ what it means to love to the point of death. Wives, on the other hand, must learn what it means to submit just as Christ has laid an example to the Church through His joyous submission to the Father. When we trust God’s heart regarding marriage and obey, then we will be happy in Jesus. This temporary union is a parable of the permanent one and should tell a better story. Where much pain and hurt has been experienced in marriage, one should take comfort in the perfection that is to come. In our union with Christ, there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears. And even the death that ‘do us part’ will be no more.
REFLECTION:
1. What’s your attitude towards marriage? Is it one of hope or otherwise?
2. How does today’s reminder through the devotion help you think and do marriage differently?
