1 Corinthians 7
Several years ago our family was headed down to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for summer vacation. We were driving our raised roof 1986 Dodge Caravan, traveling along the highway all happy and cheerful. Suddenly we heard a thump, thump, thump; a flat tire. This really ticked me off because now there was no chance of breaking our record time. But no problem, I had changed tires before. However, the van had no trunk. I didn't even know where the jack was. I finally figured out that the jack was in the engine, of course. Next I found the spare tire under the back of the car, held on by a donut-shaped nut. I tried to move the nut by hand, but no go. So I whacked the nut with the tire iron for 2 minutes and got it to move about 2 inches. At this rate it would have been Thanksgiving before I got it off. Sweating and becoming more frustrated by the minute, I found that our eldest son, Jeremy, had a novel idea. "Dad, have you thought about reading the instructions?" I responded, "How can I read the instructions when I have to keep hitting this nut?" So he got the car manual, read it and returned. "Dad, let's try a different approach." "But son, I am making progress… Look the donut has moved 4 inches to the left." "Dad, try this." He went back, lifted up a flap, put the tire iron on and dropped the tire faster than a linebacker sacking a quarterback. Life would be much easier if we just read the manual.
I am convinced we make things in marriage much harder than they should be because we ignore God's manual. Marriages are in trouble today, even Christian marriages. I'm not saying just reading the Bible will give you a perfect marriage. Marriage and building intimacy is hard work. But God does have some great ideas and solutions for troubled marriages. Directions from God make marriage work.
In our reading today we discovered some revolutionary teachings for the 1st century and for the 21st century.
One woman and one man make up a marriage.
Sexual fulfillment is a mutual responsibility. You are to keep each other sexually exhausted. (You should talk about this one today.)
Premarital sex is wrong.
Fight for your marriage when problems arise. Don't walk out the door.
Don't divorce unless an unbelieving spouse walks away and refuses reconciliation. Work out every disconnection no matter how difficult. Believers should always work things out.
In the end, following the instructions is the only way for us to capture the heart of our sexually confused culture. Our marriages need to be so sizzling hot that the world begs us for the marriage manual we are following. Boldly, radically love God and out of the abundance of His love, pour love back out on your spouse. Turn your marriage into a powerhouse of strength for the Lord.
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