Earlier this month - October 2 - my wife and I celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary. I can say with full assurance that she is a "Proverbs 31" wife, mother, and lady.
Also this month, we have been reading a Psalm, and today's Psalm is very fitting, especially verses 3-4, "Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord."
In addition to thanking God for a Proverbs 31-wife, I want to draw the comparison to the "excellent church." Two blogs during this month have focused on the "forbidden woman" comparing her to the false church. This final blog on Proverbs will highlight the characteristics and beauty of the true church!
In the book of Genesis, Abraham tells Sarah to lie to Pharaoh, saying that she is his sister. This was actually a half-truth; Sarah was Abraham's half-sister. However, half-truths are whole-lies. Abraham was afraid that Pharaoh would kill him and take Sarah into his harem, which he did anyway and God judged him for it.
Let me draw from this account in Genesis and tell you that we cannot treat the true church like our sister! We are either married to this thing or we are not! We are either in love with God or not. There is no middle ground. 99.9% won't do!
I am grateful to have been raised in "the church," but I'm even more grateful that at a very young age I made up my mind that this was the life for me. I made a determination that regardless of what others did, I was in this thing for life. The line was drawn in the sand, and I had crossed over. There is no turning back for me!
Too many today are only "dating the church" but God is not interested in a date. He doesn't want a one-night-stand. God is calling out a Bride! I exchanged vows with my wife on our wedding day and it went something like this...
- I, Myron, take thee, Shannon, to be my wedded wife; to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance.
Shannon also made the same vows to me. And guess what, the vows are not multiple choice! We didn't pick the ones we liked and discard the ones we didn't. We said and meant them all!
God has made some vows to the Church, His Bride...
- I will never leave you nor forsake you.
- Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world.
And we love to hear those verses, but I wonder today, have you made the same vows to Him? Will you ever leave or forsake Him? Will you endure until the end? Will you serve God, even if the days are rough? I have to tell you that my worst day living FOR the Lord is better than my best day living WITHOUT Him!
I'm quite certain that Noah's ark wasn't always the most pleasant place, but considering the alternative, I would've stayed on the ark.
I cannot tell you that every day has been "zippity-do-da-zippity-day" being married. There have been disagreements, arguments, frustrations, financial stress, sickness, and a host of other things that have made some days pretty bleak. BUT, I can also tell you that the good outweigh the bad! I can also tell you that I cannot imagine living without Shannon or our children that we've had together.
I feel the same way about the church - there are days when I'm not feeling like running the aisles. There are times when bad things are happening and my flesh wants to give up. BUT, the good days outweigh the bad and I cannot imagine living outside the church!
I started this race to finish it! I didn't join the church, I was born into it. If you think I'm going to give up, you've got another think coming! I've found an "excellent wife" - the true church - and I treasure her! I cherish her! I will never leave nor forsake her! I will never leave or forsake God. He's coming back soon and I am anticipating His return.
