It fits. I don't know if this is an actual number you can call, but it has the right amount of digits. It may work. Does it sound far fetched? I used to think so. Until last week while listening to my radio in my car I heard the latest OnStar commercial. OnStar is a service provided by General Motors by way of global positioning. They help motorists with any problems they may have while in their car. Their website explains - "OnStar is the in-vehicle safety and security system created to help protect you and your family on the road" (http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/explore/index.jsp).
In their commercials, they use an actual recording of a request they have fulfilled from a motorist. This has included everything from locking the keys in the car to a woman who is in labor following an automobile accident. But the latest commercial is something different all together. A man uses his OnStar service because his daughter is at the church, ready to marry, but the preacher didn't show up. So he asks for help from his car. Believe it or not, the OnStar agent connected him with a local woman pastor who was willing to show up and marry the couple on the spot. The commercial ends with the father of the bride thanking the agent for saving the wedding.
Is it just me, or have we digressed as a people? I always though marriage was holy. I recognize that this couple may have planned the wedding for a long time. They may have considered their decision very seriously. They may have prayed about it for a long while. But there is something about the convenience of this situation that is disturbing. I think it is important to consider that big decisions are not to be taken lightly.
In Romans 7, Paul compared the marriage relationship with a Christian's relationship with Christ. As in marriage, it is supposed to be a relationship that is sustained until death. This is not a relationship of convenience. It is a bond of love, sacrifice, submission, and selflessness. Baptism is often made to be too convenient. We will do it when everybody gets together, rather than immediately because our soul is lost as we speak. We need to get back to doing things the way the first Christians did them. We need to consider that being in a society of convenience may lead to us being a church that is spoiled rotten.
True commitment in relationships is measured by the sacrifice one is willing to make in order to maintain them. Getting an understanding of this when one is already in the middle of the process is not ideal. Marriage between a man and woman is the most important human relationship on can have in this lifetime. It is not to be taken lightly. Marriage between a person and Christ is the most important spiritual relationship a person can have, period. Let's not dial it up. Let's take it seriously.
"Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another--to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God." ~ Romans 7:4
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
How true. It seems if things are not conventient, we won't do them. Or, if a commitment grows tiresome, we want to break it. Jesus did better for us, and we can do better for Him.
ReplyDelete