Author : William Stewart
reprinted from “…And They Shall Become One Flesh” available on Amazon.com in Kindle format.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warn alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
Spending Time Together
Think of the days when you and your spouse dated. What do you remember most from those days? What are the things that you would do together? It took time and togetherness to build a relationship; and it takes time and togetherness to maintain a relationship. Here’s a list of possible activities that were part of the building process – they need to continue in the maintenance of your marriage:
- Going for walks
- Playing board games, card games, etc.
- Sharing long talks about things
- Going out to movies
- Sharing evenings with friends and family
- Going to community events
- etc, etc, etc.
We understand the need to continually deposit money in our bank accounts, in order to have funds available for withdrawal. Equally, we must make regular deposits of love, affection, attention and togetherness into our marriages, if we expect there to be anything there for withdrawal. As busy as life may be, as many things as there are which may demand our attention, we have a responsibility to build and maintain a successful marriage.
The law of Moses commanded,
When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. (Deuteronomy 24:5)
What an amazing law! God understood the importance of the relationship between man and wife, and implemented in His law a guarantee that the relationship would have an unhindered beginning. God’s word goes on to affirm the need for them to grow in their relationship.
Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love. For why should you, my son be enraptured by an immoral woman, and be embraced in the arms of a seductress? (Proverbs 5:18-20)
If a couple does not share time and activities together, a door is open for their relationship to fall apart. Solomon warns about the possibility of a man’s attention being turned to another woman if he and his wife do not delight in one another. Jesus clearly indicated that we must build our marriages, and not allow them to fall apart. He said
Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. (Matthew 19:4-6)
Spending Time Together With The Lord
There are numerous Bible texts which speak of the importance for all people to be diligent students of God’s word. Certainly, Bible reading can be an individual activity, but in the marriage relationship, there is the added delight of learning together.
That God wanted His word to be important among His people is evident. Hear His command to Israel:
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
It is important that couples read together, study together, and pray together. What better way to make the threefold cord stronger, than for all three segments to interact together?
