Devotional for August 31, 2010

Marriage is God’s House

If you were to come over to my house, I would welcome you inside but there would be a set of rules by which to abide. Just like I would need to abide by the rules for your house. For example, in my home, I don’t allow smoking. So if you smoke, you would need to put out your cigarette before you came in my home.

I am able to make these rules and enforce them because it is my house. Marriage is God’s house. He came up with the idea. And it can only run right when it is run by His rules.

What married couples often want to do, though, is to have God’s institution of marriage, yet run it by their own rules. They want to get married in the church so that God will bless their marriage, but then they want to leave God standing at the altar. They want to make up their own rules for how a marriage should be run.

But let me tell you a secret. It is a very powerful secret. Pay attention: You don’t get God’s results without operating by God’s rules. You don’t get God’s blessings in your marriage, and in your home, without following God’s instructions. You don’t enjoy God’s provision, protection, and peace in your relationships without abiding by God’s policies concerning the covenantal union of marriage.

[excerpt used w/permission: copyright: Marriage Matters, 2010, Anthony T. Evans, Moody Publishers]

Scripture Readings: Genesis 2: 19-24

Dr. Tony Evans