If we look at the Word of God in the Book of Hebrews 13:4 (NKJV), the Bible says: Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
It is very concerning for me to hear of so many marriages that are not working out and we really need to be so watchful and protective over our marriages. I’m talking about husbands loving their wives and I’m talking about wives submitting to their husbands. I think a Godly marriage speaks louder in these days in which we are living than any preaching or any sermon. “The world stands aside for a man who knows where he is going” as the saying says, but the marriage that is successful probably speaks even louder than that.
- Advertisement -
Once we are married there is no looking over the wall as King David did. If we look at 2 Samuel 11:1-5, we see that when David’s men went to war, David remained behind (verse 1) and as the saying goes “the devil makes work for idle hands”. We need to keep ourselves busy and we need to work hard. We need to spend lots of time with each other and build into each other’s lives.
In the old days when things were very tough, it was a matter of life or death, where a husband and wife had to literally work together to make ends meet — there was hardly any talk of separation taking place. You just never heard of divorce because folk were just too busy working and trying to survive. I think we need to understand that the devil will try everything in his power to destroy the marriage. We need to be content with the wife of our youth and we cannot afford to be unfaithful, and there is no place for relationships outside of the marriage.
In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that you cannot call yourself a true believer and cheat on your wife or on your husband.
- Advertisement -
After King David had the affair with Bathsheba, he just went from one degree of sin to another. He then became a murderer; he organised for Bathsheba’s husband to be murdered — and not only Uriah, but his men as well. So, he became a murderer. He became a liar until Nathan found him out; Nathan the prophet of God.
However David did repent, there is no doubt about it, and he is still revered in Israel today as the great King David, but the sad part is that you never hear of David ever killing any more Goliaths. You never hear of any great exploits: all you read of is trouble in his family. God forbid that happens to you or to me — we need to guard our marriages at all cost, and we need to be very wise. We need to honour the marriage bed and treat our marriages as a holy act of God. We must never ever put ourselves in a compromising position with someone of the opposite sex.
I am an old grandfather, yet, I will never go on a preaching appointment on my own. Never ever! It has nothing to do with good looks or anything else, it’s to do with one thing only. The devil will try his absolute maximum to put a wedge in the marriage so that he can destroy our testimony as Believers.
What is the recipe for a successful marriage? Well, we need to talk to each other every single day: communication is vital in a successful marriage, we must never let the sun set on a disagreement and we must tell each other daily that we love each other. When I take Jill a cup of tea in the morning, the first thing I tell her is that I love her. And most importantly, we must pray together. Remember the family that prays together stays together.
May God bless you as you rejoice and most of all enjoy the marriage that God has blessed you with.
Angus and Jill Buchan
Thankyou, Angus, for this necessary emphasis on Marriage. Nathan said what made David’s sin worse was that God had already given David many wives, and would have given him more if he wanted them (2 Samuel 12:8). God requires MARRIGE before sex, even polygamous marriage. But Western permissive culture has corrupted sex, so that almost everyone now has sex before Marriage, and many couples never marry but live as “partners” in sex. Our SA Constitution 9 (3) defies God when it implies that “Marital Status” doesn’t matter.
Marriage requires work from both sides, husband and wife, it needs maintenance and more than anything God’s involvement. With all that it is wonderful . It is just so sad to see the breakdown in homes and the number of children left fatherless. May the Lord strengthen us and help us to be determined to make our relationships work. May the world see that God can make all the difference, that He can bring great joy and happiness to a home and provide a sound, safe place in which little people can grow into healthy happy adults.