2002-05-07 - Fungal Awareness

Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband.

In case you did not know it, May is "Date Your Mate Month." However, May is also, "Fungal Infection Awareness Month." This is a tough call. Both topics have so much potential, but maybe we will go with the edifying one rather than the fun one.

I know there are many singles and High School students on our list so I wish to encourage you all first. You may not have met your life partner yet, but this does not mean date your mate month does not apply to you. Right now you can prepare to be the best husband or wife possible by growing in grace before you meet him or her. And while this may be a kooky evangelical buzz phrase, it still is relevant to say that you should look to date Christ. By this I mean that you should seek to experience Union with Christ. In salvation we already have Union with Christ, but from our end we don't always live as this were true. Indwelling sin in our hearts makes our experience of this Union with Christ seem, to us, less than perfect. So I would encourage you to seek to grow in grace and piety now. It is the greatest thing you could ever do for your future mate.

Now for the rest of you who have love handcuffs on and walk joyfully carrying your cross of burdens -- OK, that's not nice. However, I know it can sometimes feel that way. The Bible is fairly silent on dating your mate. Do it anyway! Because, in truth, the concept of dating your mate, while not explicitly in Scripture, can be deduced from Scripture. I encourage you to take a look at the marriage union description we find in Ephesians 5:21-33. Some, I know, don't care for the concept of dating, so make up a new term, but at least spend quality time together. In Matthew 19:5 Christ quotes Genesis 2:24, and clearly in both passages there is the indication of a union of intimacy designed in marriage. Remember also in John 2:1-11 Christ attended a marriage and blessed such a union by performing His first public miracle.

Let me give a few ideas here. I know that in a marriage the desire is often there to do something fun together, but I think the execution of the desire is often lacking because we find ourselves paralyzed with the question, "What should I do?" Well, go for a walk. Serve the kids dinner first, then put candles on the table, order out (no dishes), dim the lights, and call it a date. Want to get radical? Take a personal day at work, but don't tell your mate, rather mention it in the morning. "Today I'm spending the day with you. I want you to know that you are more important to me than my job." If you both work, then plan it out. Take a spontaneous trip someplace nice that is an hour away and spend the night. Go out to Dairy Queen, or a Water Ice place one evening. Miniature golf is a great date. I know I have not exhausted, or even scratched the surface of ideas, so be creative.

Some of those ideas are not possible for everyone, or practical either. However, my point is that Christ is honored when our marriages are strong. When it is clear that we love our spouse we testify to a hurting, dying world that there is something different about us. That difference is Christ and you may not think that the world sees the link, but I am sure they are more astute than we imagine. The world views marriage like the French painter Henri, who said, "Marriage is like a dull meal with the desert at the beginning." But the Christian should see marriage quite differently. As Hebrews 13:4 tells us, "Let marriage be held in honor among all..."

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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