Hezekiah said,
Now I intend to make
a covenant with the Lord
… Do not be negligent …
for the Lord has chosen you
to stand before him and serve him
2 Chronicles 29:10-11
NIV
Yesterday, I encouraged you to look at the ring on the finger of your beloved. When you put it there, you proclaimed, covenantally, “I’d rather be cut in half than to ever quit fighting for this marriage. I give myself totally to thee.”
“I’ll never quit on this marriage!” That’s what you said … and are saying.
“I give myself totally.”
Now, I usually urge people to never use words like “never” and “totally!” Absolutes are always hard to follow through on. In fact, we can’t fulfill these promises on our own power. But we can through the power of the one who gave himself totally for us.
The Power to Keep Covenant
When we are saying, “I give myself totally to thee,” we are seeking to fulfill the holy charge found in Ephesian 5:25 – “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Throughout Scripture – both Old and New Testaments – God describes his relationship with his people in terms of a marriage covenant … in terms, indeed, of passionate love and unwavering commitment.
Godly husbands and wives are supposed to love one another in the same way that God loves his people. We are supposed to love each other “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
“Do not be negligent,” says our verse for today. Love one another totally! Love each other sacrificially! Remember your pledge in covenantal love. It says, “I’d rather be cut in half – or nailed to a cross – than to ever quit fighting for this marriage. I give myself totally to thee.”
“But ‘how’? I can’t do this alone!”
You’re right. You can’t. But the one who endured the cross can!
When you chose to stand in front of the altar, you were saying, “Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord.” In that moment, you chose God. And in that moment, God reached back – “the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him.”
That’s the blessing of covenantal marriage. No matter your imperfection on the way to the altar – that was what Hezekiah was dealing with, a wantonly rebellious Israel – God is ready to start anew. And when you stand at the altar and pledge, “I will be a covenant keeper,” you are entitled to all the power that comes from above!
· God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – desires to give us “wisdom and understanding” (Isaiah 11:2 – Knowledge is, of course, a powerful tool for improving a marriage).
· “The Spirit … gives us power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7 – Love and self-discipline are also powerful tools for improving a marriage).
· God gives “strength to the weary”; he helps us when we are tired of trying (Isaiah 40:28-31).
· God empowers us to forgive (The power to forgive comes from the fact that we are forgiven, see Luke 7:47).
· God helps us endure (2 Corinthians 12:9 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”)
· God helps us battle the lies that say it’s not worth fighting for our marriage. (The armor of God – Ephesians 6 – promises a “belt of truth” to help us fight the lies of hell which sew division; indeed, as Jesus said, “I have given you authority … over all the power of the enemy,” Luke 10:19).
· Indeed, whatever the problem, God makes us “more than conquerers” (Romans 8:37).
QUESTION: see below
In Christ’s Love,
a guy with power equipment
(God’s power equips me)
QUESTION: Are you experiencing the power of heaven in your marriage? If not, perhaps it’s time to fully renew your covenantal relationship with God the Father. We are supposed to give ourselves totally and sacrificially to Him. And when we do that, we begin to experience the power to give ourselves totally and sacrificially to our marriage partner. What do you need to do to give yourself more totally and sacrificially to God? Indeed, where are “me-firsts” still in your life?
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