Jonathan And Tara

My grandson and Tara stood before God;
To Him and to each other pledged their vows:
To love each other till death ends their plod;
To be one flesh, sharing all life endows!
God was pleased, because in His Book of Life
Both their names were writ even before time;
He knew their wills were firmly fixed for strife
Ahead---the future's not always sublime!
His gift of eros love had made them one,
Had served its purpose; but it would not last;
Both would let the Spirit's work all be done
To grow agape love, when eros passed!
If each puts the other first in all things,
Their oaths to God are kept; true happiness clings!

I am praising God for bringing my grandson Jonathan and Tara to His altar last week, where they pledged their vows to God and each other in a moving and sacred sacrament of marriage. Especially emotional for Janette and me; Jonathan is the oldest child of our son Rick, who died suddenly in 2003 at the age of 45. Tears of joy flowed in abundance, beginning with the nuptial pair and spreading throughout the huge crowd of families and friends. I'm positive Rick was there with us, smiling through his tears.

It was a "Christian" marriage, which presages a happy future for the two. They knew their pledges were made to God as well as to each other; they also know that God's Holy Spirit indwells each, and they're determined to let Him guide in all aspects of their life together. God does not take the breaking of vows to Him lightly; in most cases, divorce requires one or both to forsake his/her oath, and that is a sin for which a child of God is disciplined by a loving Father.

Eros love is sexual attraction. Television soaps teach a misguided value---that a person owes it to himself to follow his desires (read 'sexual interests'), even if it means breaking a vow made to another. Christians, on the other hand, know that the two most important commandments of God are to love Him (God) more than anybody (even your spouse); and to love others (yes, a nagging spouse for whom all sexual attraction has long vanished) as much as you do yourself. Eros love does slowly wear away; in its place the Spirit guides the Christian into a beautiful, satisfying, eternal love called "agape" love. It grows as the years go by; after 56 years of marriage, my wife and I love each other a thousand times more than on our wedding day. Her welfare is more important to me than my own; and she feels the same about me. It didn't come easily; but it will come to two Christians whose wills are pliable by the Holy Spirit.