Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4: 12, NIV.
Gracious God, we are well aware that only with You in the family will we be able to survive the wiles of the evil one. Please show us how to unite our weakness with Your strength, that we may obtain the victory in all things. In the holy name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
We have come to the greatest challenge of all, living together until death separates us. I am so grateful to God that these are only challenges, not impossibilities. That is because God knows no impossibilities! And it is God who keeps homes from falling apart. It is God who helps couples to remain in love, and when necessary, He renews the love that has grown cold! What “a wonderful Savior is Jesus [our] Lord!” He saves souls, He saves marriages, He saves to the uttermost! Give Him your broken pieces and watch Him put them together again, as if they had never been broken, and even better than they were before!
The first part of our text for today, on the one hand, talks about the possibility of being “overpowered” when we are alone. And on the other hand, of being overcomers, when we are accompanied. Alone, we could find ourselves defenseless; together, we could defend each other! Oftentimes, when we are alone, we feel very vulnerable. Accompanied we tend to feel invincible! There is strength in unity – physical, emotional, and moral, strength. Jesus, speaking to those who accused Him of casting out demons in the name of the prince of demons, Beelzebub, made this statement: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand . . .” (Matthew 12: 25, NIV, emphasis provided).
One of the surest ways of bringing division to a family is when family members share their family secrets with others. The home is supposed to be a secret vault, where we can feel safe to deposit our best and our worst experiences. The only person we should share them with, beside the members of the family, is Jesus. We are not to let others into the intimate chambers of our home life. If we are angry at our spouses, tell them about it! After all, if there is need for a change, the change must come through them, why share their short comings with someone else. The other side of that coin is, oftentimes when we sit down to discuss their faults, we discover that things are not as bad as they seem. Perhaps we were misinterpreting some action on their part, but after talking it over, we discover that we were judging them wrongfully, or, we may find that we are the ones to blame! We most likely would not have discovered this by talking to someone else.
Another real danger that we can avoid by staying close to our spouses, is the danger of being tempted. Unfortunately, many husbands and wives have made the mistake of sharing their spouse’s weaknesses with others of the opposite sex. There is the possibility of you becoming attracted to the person who is willing to listen to you, and they to you. People are vulnerable when they are hurting, and the “roaring lion [is always] seeking whom he may devour.” I truly believe that Adam and Eve would have stood a better chance at overcoming, if they had been together at the time of the temptation.
Most of us know the truthfulness of the words found in Psalm 127: “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain” (1a). That is why I believe every marriage need “a cord of three strands” – Jesus, your spouse, and you! As much as is possible, spouses need to spend time with each other. The more time together, the better! A wonderful place for spouses to begin and end their day, is around the family altar! Family worship keeps Jesus in the center of the home, as each person in the family look to the Savior to find strength to love one another, in spite of all our differences! Praying together is one of the most effective methods for making two lives one. When Jesus is at the center of the home, the closer we draw to Jesus, is the closer we will be to each other!
If we plan to be together “until death do us part,” let us learn how to do it, in love, respect, and joy. Let us not only love one another, but let us learn to like each other. This is possible, “with Jesus in the family,” because “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”