Brother Preacher

Every husband believes that they have the greatest wife in the world.  Well most of us do.  And justifiably so.  Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have married that person.  I am no exception.   I, too, believe that I have married the greatest woman that God has to offer.  Admittedly, there is a “touch” of bias in each man’s declaration of this fact.  Honestly, there was a day when I didn’t feel like I’d ever find anyone I was comfortable marrying for the rest of my life.  I was frustratingly single and I hated it.  Every Valentine’s Day I hated when folks would tell me that Jesus was my Valentine.  That sounded really super spiritual and all.  It focused on the “verticalness” (yes, I made that word up) of our relationship with the One who called us out of darkness into the marvelous light, but God also created us for horizontal relationships with others.  As much as we talk about the commercialism of Valentine’s Day, the fact still remains that human relationships are very important.  So I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Jesus is your Valentine.  I will tell you, however, that there is no need to sell yourself short on this day just because no one has bought you anything or sent you something special. My wife said something very profound this morning while preaching.  When she talked about love and relationships she said, “Don’t get so caught up in the icing that you don’t realize that you are eating stale cake.”  My, my, my.  I wonder how many folks ate some stale cake today.  Beautifully adorned flowers, teddy bears, hallmark cards (icing) surround stale cake (no substance in the relationship).

Sheridan and I attended a beautiful wedding yesterday.  It served as a reminder of the importance of the covenant of marriage.  Despite all the statistics, all the affairs, all the broken relationships, we are determined to prove that there are great marriages out there.  We want to give hope to those who think “marriage is for the birds” or “there is no such thing as a good marriage”.  The Devil is a liar (and the father of lies).  The first thing that the enemy attacked in the Bible was the institution of marriage.  It wasn’t the Church, it wasn’t a pastor, and it wasn’t the Word of God.  It was a relationship between a man and a woman.  The deceit came in the form of a question and ended in a broken relationship (See Genesis 3).  Questions arise every day in marriages/relationships.  Do I still love this person?  Why has he/she changed so much?  What happened to him/her?  This is precisely the enemy’s plan.

On this Valentine’s Day, I want to encourage everyone out there…both single and married.  Don’t allow the enemy to question what God has ordained for your life.  Continue to walk in what He has purposed for you.  Continue to pursue the vision that God has given you.  Married folks, remember your wedding day and the reasons you married that person.  People change, but love doesn’t!  Even in all of those changes, love is the factor that keeps things in perspective.  If God suffered humiliation (and even death) for the sake of love (John 3:16), why can’t we make sacrifices for the ones we love? Divorce is always the easy out.  Hands are clean.  There’s a chance to start over.  But nobody ever said love was easy.  Love is work, but it is worth it.  I love my wife dearly.  I truly believe she is the greatest woman on the earth.  Even when we have “heated fellowship”, even when we agree to  disagree…the fact remains that our love transcends all those peripheral issues.  We celebrate this day just like any other couple.  She bought me a few suits to keep me looking good and I got her a nice pregnancy message from spa.  But we live every day loving each other with eternity in mind.  That means we set aside temporal things/issues and focus on the eternal purpose we are called to: a beautiful, God-centered marriage.  I say all this to say that I am a very blessed man.  ”Who can find a virtuous woman?” (Proverbs 31:1)  ME!!!!!!!!  I love you babes.  Thank you for being you and loving me in spite of me.

Blessings,

Brother John

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