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Day 183, or July 2.

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They all live together, happy ever after.

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Our thoughts today are rooted in Proverbs chapter 5 verse 18.

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Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

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First the big picture surrounding this verse.

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These Proverbs bring to a close the first collection of those written by Solomon.

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He begins by covering parenting, bad company, seeking wisdom, kindness, avoiding wickedness,

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laziness, adultery, and faithfulness.

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All of them and more he had experienced first hand in his own lifetime.

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No need to repeat the bad ones in your life.

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And now our action step for today.

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I remember visiting the Ukraine some years ago with a group of others shortly after the

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fall of the Soviet Union.

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We were teaching at meetings about the importance of the Bible and how our lives should be based

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on biblical principles.

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They introduced me and mentioned, along with family details, how long I had been married.

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It was twenty-five years at the time.

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Following the session a number of four came up to me to speak, and one asked me how long

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was it I had been married.

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I confirmed that what had been said in the introduction, twenty-five years, was accurate.

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He then asked a second question.

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And how many wives?

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I said that it was just the one to which he shook his head in total disbelief.

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Over recent decades marriage seems to have become less permanent, something that you

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can enter into and leave as soon as it gets difficult.

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I don't want this to sound judgmental, because I thank God regularly for the wife I have,

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but I know it hasn't been as fulfilling for many others.

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Having said that, this proverb is very clear, in that we are to rejoice in the wife of our

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youth.

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Of course, if you know anything about Solomon, you will know that he had seven hundred wives

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and three hundred concubines, so he's a fine one to talk, you may be thinking.

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Only he is, because if anyone knew that sticking with the wife of his youth was wise, Solomon

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should have.

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Don't judge what God says by whom he uses to say it.

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Sometimes he uses the least appropriate messenger, but that doesn't devalue his word.