Thursday, June 7, 2012

SOAP 06/07/2012; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Today's reading: Ecclesiastes 4,5,6; Psalms 18; Ephesians 3
     
S) 9 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. 11 Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? 12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."
     
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NASB)
     
O) This is, perhaps, one of my very favorite verses in the Bible regarding marriage. It's not exclusively about marriage, but it's such a powerful promise when it's realized that way. Marriage is all about being of one accord. Your spouse should be your biggest benefactor. No one should pray harder for you, fast more often for you, be more concerned with your success in every spiritual and physical sense, because there is no one closer or more fully invested in you as a person. Your spouse is one flesh with you, so as it goes with your spouse, it goes with you. This is the truth of the phrase, "Behind every good man is a great woman." This is true, regardless of religion or creed. Marriages that are true partnerships are the most successful. This verse takes it further with the last verse. That is the most powerful, most important promise to me, outside my own salvation. "A cord of three" is referring to me, my wife, and God with us. As long as we are woven together, with God, we will never fail.
     
A) I need to continually reposition my perspective to see my wife as my biggest ally in everything I do, to the point that I'm not seeing her as a separate person, in the sense that we are one flesh (Genesis 2:24). So, if she is sick, then I am sick. If she is anxious, then I am anxious. If she is joyful, even when it seems less-than-exciting to me, then I am joyful. This is a committed act of love to my wife, I am ensuring that I am with her in everything. Taking that a step further, I need to continue making determined efforts to minister to my wife directly, so that we walking closely with God as individuals, and also as a couple. This is, perhaps, the hardest, and most important, part.
     
P) Father, thank You for giving me such an amazing wife. Your gift to me in her is more than I asked, and my thanks to You, for her, will never end. I want to honor what You've given me, and I want to take this blessing and see it flourish. Holy Spirit, continue to change my perspective to see Kristin more and more as myself. Give me a supernatural ability to relate to her, so that I am seeing her struggles as my struggles, and her successes as my successes. Lead me to lead her, so that we are intertwined with You in a cord that cannot be broken. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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