"Marriage is pointless"
Apparently, according to the ever-wonderful Red Dragon FM, some 'ladies with clipboards' have been out on the streets of Newport today asking people about marriage.
It appears that most of the people they spoke to said that they only married for; the kids, money, or presents and a party. And the conclusion therefore generally seems to be that marriage is pointless...
Oh dear, not exactly what I wanted to hear as I prepare to go to a wedding tomorrow!
But the thing is, tomorrow I will see Naomi and Oli 'tie the knot' - and I know that they, just like James and Hayley in July and Oli and Rachel just two weeks ago (a different Oli!), do not think marriage is pointless. 22nd July and 12th August were not pointless days, and tomorrow will not be a pointless day. 22nd July and 12th August were not just excuses for a big party or lots of presents, and neither will tomorrow be.
Tomorrow will be a day of celebration. But it will celebrate far more than the world typically celebrates on a wedding day. It will celebrate not just the love Oli and Naomi have for each other, but the love God has for them and the love they have for God. Tomorrow we will all join with them in celebrating their relationship as a gift from God Himself and pray that their life together will be a ministry to others. As Naomi and Oli speak their vows tomorrow they will do so in the knowledge that richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, God will bind their marriage together by His grace and His love. They will speak those vows in the knowledge that their marriage is a gift from God.
Tomorrow we will celebrate Jesus, God's Son, being born as a human, in order to die the death and face the judgement that rightfully belongs to us. We will celebrate the cross not because of a weird fascination with ancient death penalties but because Jesus defeated the cross, he defeated death, he defeated the power that sin and hell had over his people. And in doing so he paved the way for a glorious relationship between us and God, our Creator. A relationship WE had destroyed and shunned and had no way or repairing ourselves. We will celebrate the ultimate relationship - not between Oli and Naomi, the 'relationship of the day', but between God the Father and Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, and between us and God.
I don't really know what I'm trying to say...not being married myself I don't know that there is a lot I can say about it! But I DO know that marriage is not pointless. I DO know that it's exciting. I DO know that this excitement for marriage is another thing to be telling non-Christians about, just as telling them that church is exciting.
But then more than that I need to be telling people how exciting GOD is. Everything else flows from that. I don't know that people will really understand how exciting marriage is, or at least the real reasons why it's exciting, until they understand God (as much as our feeble minds can understand Him). Because if you say marriage is pointless, you say in effect it has no meaning, which is quite depressing really.
But in God we find our meaning. And that applies to our whole lives. Which, if you're married, includes your marriage. And that's exciting.
It appears that most of the people they spoke to said that they only married for; the kids, money, or presents and a party. And the conclusion therefore generally seems to be that marriage is pointless...
Oh dear, not exactly what I wanted to hear as I prepare to go to a wedding tomorrow!
But the thing is, tomorrow I will see Naomi and Oli 'tie the knot' - and I know that they, just like James and Hayley in July and Oli and Rachel just two weeks ago (a different Oli!), do not think marriage is pointless. 22nd July and 12th August were not pointless days, and tomorrow will not be a pointless day. 22nd July and 12th August were not just excuses for a big party or lots of presents, and neither will tomorrow be.
Tomorrow will be a day of celebration. But it will celebrate far more than the world typically celebrates on a wedding day. It will celebrate not just the love Oli and Naomi have for each other, but the love God has for them and the love they have for God. Tomorrow we will all join with them in celebrating their relationship as a gift from God Himself and pray that their life together will be a ministry to others. As Naomi and Oli speak their vows tomorrow they will do so in the knowledge that richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, God will bind their marriage together by His grace and His love. They will speak those vows in the knowledge that their marriage is a gift from God.
Tomorrow we will celebrate Jesus, God's Son, being born as a human, in order to die the death and face the judgement that rightfully belongs to us. We will celebrate the cross not because of a weird fascination with ancient death penalties but because Jesus defeated the cross, he defeated death, he defeated the power that sin and hell had over his people. And in doing so he paved the way for a glorious relationship between us and God, our Creator. A relationship WE had destroyed and shunned and had no way or repairing ourselves. We will celebrate the ultimate relationship - not between Oli and Naomi, the 'relationship of the day', but between God the Father and Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, and between us and God.
I don't really know what I'm trying to say...not being married myself I don't know that there is a lot I can say about it! But I DO know that marriage is not pointless. I DO know that it's exciting. I DO know that this excitement for marriage is another thing to be telling non-Christians about, just as telling them that church is exciting.
But then more than that I need to be telling people how exciting GOD is. Everything else flows from that. I don't know that people will really understand how exciting marriage is, or at least the real reasons why it's exciting, until they understand God (as much as our feeble minds can understand Him). Because if you say marriage is pointless, you say in effect it has no meaning, which is quite depressing really.
But in God we find our meaning. And that applies to our whole lives. Which, if you're married, includes your marriage. And that's exciting.
posted by Welshie at 3:22 PM
2 Comments:
Awesome stuff Cez. Thanks for sharing it :D
meh I think marriage is pointless, it''s more of just a way of saving money for tax really, because the tax is split bettween 2 people instead of just one
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