The Home of a Truly Christian Married Couple (Pasche)
"Godliness Is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." 1 Tim. 4:8.
If marriage is a divine institution (and it is that), well-pleasing unto God, why is it that married people often are unhappy? The reason is not to be sought in marriage, but in the motives which often prompt some people to take this step. Some do not marry for love, but only for pleasure and lust; and when the fire of passion dies out, the ashes remain. Others marry for money, and they reap thistles and thorns. Still others marry for selfish reasons, and they are generally disappointed. Wedlock is a holy estate, and therefore people are not to come together as do brutes, merely to satisfy their fleshly lust, nor for selfish reasons, but as doing God service, and with this end in view they are to live. “Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence and likewise also the wife unto the husband. Husbands, love your wives.”
The family is the one place above all others where the tender plant of love is to be cherished; and its beautiful blossoms, sweet little children, strengthen the affections between husband and wife. Is there any one that can imagine happier people than a believing couple of loving parents with their children? And should they not be exceedingly happy if in true Christian faith they believe in Jesus, their blessed Savior, and through faith in Him are able to call the bountiful Father in heaven their own?
At the wedding in Cana of Galilee, Jesus consecrated and hallowed the new home which was established there by revealing to His friends and disciples His glory in a magnificent manner. These two people certainly founded a truly happy home. They invited Jesus and had Him as their honored Guest. Hpon their house rested the Lord’s blessing. Unhappy are those who have not Jesus with them, who do not believe in Him and refuse to admit Him to their home. Such a married couple may apparently be ever so happy, they may be ever so healthy and wealthy, — they are, after all, poor, miserable, and unhappy.
Prayer
O Lord God, into Thine almighty hand we commit ourselves and all those who live in holy wedlock and all their children and domestics; preserve us and them all, we pray Thee, from sin, shame, and all ills. Let our lives be so full of faith and rich in the good works of faith that Thy dear Son, our Lord and Savior, will also enter our home, be our daily Guest, and bless us. Grant to us, Thy humble servants, to be diligent in our calling, to eat our bread in the sweat of our brow, and not to grow disheartened when we feel the burden of hard labor; for Thou hast so ordained it. Also bestow Thy blessing upon our substance that it may increase without damage or loss to others. This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
