What thoughts run through your head when you think of the month of June? Weddings come to my mind! Mostly, because it was in this wonderful month of the year that I pledged to take an ill-equipped 21-year-old as my husband. I use the word, ill-equipped, because he had no idea how his parade was about to change. And most of us are totally ill-equipped when we first enter the marriage union.

But what is it all about? What is the importance and why does it matter so much?

God is the creator of marriage. He created Adam and then created Eve and joined them together as “one flesh,” HOLY MATRIMONY (Genesis 2:22-23; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9)! God’s purpose in instituting marriage was to represent the relationship between Christ and His Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). When we believe in the gospel (Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4), we become part of His Church and are joined to Christ as His Holy Bride. God is the creator of this beautiful allegory that He wants the whole world to see and experience. But many reject God’s invitation and even distort it following the desires of God’s enemy, the devil (Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 15:19; Romans 1:26-27).

As I continue to fast from dairy and sugar leading up to my 42^nd Wedding Anniversary, I am reminded of the whole purpose in God’s great plan of marriage. Not all are called to the marriage union but those who are, must follow God’s blueprint because we are otherwise ill-equipped to make it work out well.

Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. . . Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:11a, 14-15, 20-21, NLT

“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”

2 Corinthians 5:10

I would love to say, I did this marriage thing the way God the Father intended yet I was also ill-equipped to wed. Thankfully His patience and grace continued to prod me in the right direction and His Word is gaining more and more ground within my heart with each passing year. And that is what this life is all about: learning to obey and follow the commands of Scripture. While I, sadly, am filled with regrets, there are many, many cherished memories in our ongoing saga.

And speaking of being ill-equipped, be sure to check out one of our cherished memories below. 😉

THE NIGHT WE WED!