When you remember that God is eternal, you realize that for all eternity God has been rejoicing over his Church, the Bride of Christ. His shouts of joy drown out our own feeble ejaculations of praise.

I was recently invited to an engagement party of a woman member and her fiancé. The father of the bride-to-be, the head of the home, whispered in my ears at the start of the gathering, “I was wondering if you could say something, maybe offer some remarks to the new couple. Dip into your vast reservoir of ministry thoughts.” And so, with him ignorant of the depth of my reservoir, and with me not so much enjoying my meal as sweating it out, wondering what I’d say, I made remarks similar to the ones below here.

When I think about marriage, a lot comes to mind, but two significant realities come to the fore: weightiness and joyfulness. No one should ever enter into marriage lightly. As the Song of Solomon says repeatedly, “Do not awaken love before its time” (Song of Solomon 2:7; 3:5; 8:4). It’s right to wait, and wise not to approach marriage in a casual or cavalier attitude. The head of the home mentioned above is highly respected, a humble and wise man whose presence commands respect, and a man whose children have shown time and again that his word carries much weight in their lives. If it were just his word, however, his influence would reach his family alone. However, his life has shown a reliance on the Word of God, our Father in  Heaven. This man’s life could be summarized by Paul’s words, “Imitate me, as I imitate the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:1). If this man’s influence carried so much weight in the hearts of his family, how much weight should our Father’s Word move our hearts as we think about marriage?

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