FOR JULY 12 : MARRIAGE BEFORE LOVE

[cimi]

July 12
saturday


MARRIAGE
BEFORE LOVE

READ:
Genesis 24:61-67
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Live joyfully with the
wife whom you love all
the days of your vain
life which He has given
you under the sun.
__Ecclesiastes 9:9
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A man went to his pastor for counseling. In his hands were pages of complaints against his wife. After hours of uninterrupted listening, the pastor couldn't help but ask, "If she is that bad, why did you marry her?" Immediately the man shot back, "She wasn't like this at first!" The pastor, unable to hold back his thoughts, asked, "So, are you saying that she is like this because she's been married to you?"

Whether or not this story is true, it does suggest an important lesson to be learned. At times, feelings toward a spouse may grow cold. But love is much more than feelings__it's a life-long commitment.

Although most people choose to marry only because of love, in some cultures people still get married through matchmaking. In the lives of Isaac and Rebekah recorded in the book of Genesis, love came after marriage. It says in chapter 24 that Isaac married Rebekah and then he loved her (v.67).

Biblical love is about our willingness to do what is good for another. Husbands are instructed to "love their own wives as their own bodies" (Eph. 5:28).

So, walking in obedience to the Lord, let's keep our marriage vows to love "till death do us part." __Albert Lee
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```````````````"For better or for worse," we pledge,````````````````
```````````````"Through sickness and through strife";``````````````
``````````````````And by the help and grace of God```````````````
`````````````We'll keep these vows for life. __D. De Haan```````````
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Love is more than a feeling,
it's a commitment.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Genesis 24:61-67***********

61 Then Rebekah and her
maids arose, and they rode
on the camels and followed
the man. So the servant
took Rebekah and departed.

62 Now Isaac came from
the way of Beer Lahai Roi,
for he dwelt in the South.

63 and Isaac went out to
meditate in the field in the
evening; and he lifted his
eyes and looked, and there,
the camels were coming.

64 Then Rebekah lifted her
eyes, and when she saw
Isaac she dismounted from
her camel; 65 for she had
said to the servant, "Who is
this man walking in the
field to meet us?"

The servant said, "It is my
master." So she took a veil
and covered herself.

66 And the servant told
Isaac all the things that he
had done. 67 Then Isaac
brought her into his mother
Sarah's tent; and he took
Rebekah and she became
his wife, and he loved her.
So Isaac was comforted
after his mother's death.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

This biblical narrative describes Rebekah's demonstration of
modesty: "She took a veil and covered herself" (Gen. 24:65). It
showed respect for Isaac's position of authority and the nature of
their relationship. A betrothed woman remained veiled until she and
her fiance' became man and wife in marriage. Only then might her
husband look upon her face. _Dennis Fisher