God is More than a “Get Out of Hell Free” Card
I hope you’re enjoying your weekend ladies, and I hope that you’re spending quality time with your husbands.
Remember that marriage is a reflection of the covenant between Jesus Christ and the church, and what He wants from the church, aside from our obedience to His Word, is our fellowship. In fact in John chapter fifteen, He referred to believers as His friends.
Again in Revelation 3:20 He says,
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
– Revelation 3:20, (KJV)
What do we see happening in the church today? In many cases we see people who attend service on Sundays, pay their tithes, and do their best not to swear, but they don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord.
I’m not judging their hearts, all I am saying is that there’s a priceless relationship here that shouldn’t be overlooked. When Michael pursues me—when he finds me in the dark and carries me back to the light–he’s reflecting the love of our Savior who desires to be our most intimate friend.
When He’s nothing but a ticket to heaven or a “Get Out of Hell Free” card, the element of friendship is lost. Sure, there might be a level of sacrifice taking place, but in many cases, friendship with God is non-existent.
In the same way we see housewives who cook, clean, keep their whites white and drive kids to soccer on Saturdays, but unfortunately they’ve forgotten what it was like to be friends with their husbands.
When God created Adam, He saw that man was alone. Adam needed someone to spend time with, someone he could confide in, someone he could laugh with, someone who was loyal, someone who would value him, and someone who would show him affection. God saw that He needed a companion and friend.
Eve was created to be Adam’s helper, but she was also God’s gift of friendship to man just as we are a gift of friendship to our husbands.
This article is an excerpt from Messy: Beautiful Love by Darlene Schacht. Used with permission from Nelson Books © 2014.
You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife
3 Comments
Kim
Darlene,
I look forward to reading your words each time they arrive in my inbox. I find tremendous strength and encouragement through them. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and words of reflection and wisdom.
In this piece you say, ” When God created Adam, He saw that man was alone. Adam needed someone to spend time with, someone he could confide in, someone he could laugh with, someone who was loyal, someone who would value him, and someone who would show him affection. God saw that He needed a companion and friend. ”
What would you say Eve’s needs are in correlation to these of Adam’s?
Darlene Schacht
I’d say that Eve also needs friendship. Eve needs to know that she is loved and cherished. I love how men are reminded of this importance in scripture when in Ephesians Paul writes,
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; – Ephesians 5:25
Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs illustrates the needs of husbands and wives so much better than I do.
Jody
This is hard for me because I never felt a friendship with my husband. We were lovers from the beginning and now that we are married it seems like the only relationship between us is that or none at all. It’s like pulling teeth to get my husband to talk about anything and he seems content with the way things are. But he also prefersto alone. It’s a sacrifice for him to hold my hand most of the time because he needs space more than anything apparently. I do my best but he doesn’t seem to want anything from me most of the time. Sometimes I wonder why he even got married. He would prefer just to do his own thing by himself and carve 10 min out for us.