Day 183, or July 2.
They all live together, happy ever after.
Our thoughts today are rooted in Proverbs chapter 5 verse 18.
Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
First the big picture surrounding this verse.
These Proverbs bring to a close the first collection of those written by Solomon.
He begins by covering parenting, bad company, seeking wisdom, kindness, avoiding wickedness,
laziness, adultery, and faithfulness.
All of them and more he had experienced first hand in his own lifetime.
No need to repeat the bad ones in your life.
And now our action step for today.
I remember visiting the Ukraine some years ago with a group of others shortly after the
fall of the Soviet Union.
We were teaching at meetings about the importance of the Bible and how our lives should be based
on biblical principles.
They introduced me and mentioned, along with family details, how long I had been married.
It was twenty-five years at the time.
Following the session a number of four came up to me to speak, and one asked me how long
was it I had been married.
I confirmed that what had been said in the introduction, twenty-five years, was accurate.
He then asked a second question.
And how many wives?
I said that it was just the one to which he shook his head in total disbelief.
Over recent decades marriage seems to have become less permanent, something that you
can enter into and leave as soon as it gets difficult.
I don't want this to sound judgmental, because I thank God regularly for the wife I have,
but I know it hasn't been as fulfilling for many others.
Having said that, this proverb is very clear, in that we are to rejoice in the wife of our
youth.
Of course, if you know anything about Solomon, you will know that he had seven hundred wives
and three hundred concubines, so he's a fine one to talk, you may be thinking.
Only he is, because if anyone knew that sticking with the wife of his youth was wise, Solomon
should have.
Don't judge what God says by whom he uses to say it.
Sometimes he uses the least appropriate messenger, but that doesn't devalue his word.