A Wedding Ceremony

These are awesome words from God to us. This is an example of how much God loves us. I chose this scripture because the relationship you have with each other is the same relationship God desires with all of us. I want to talk briefly on four statements God makes in this scripture and how it relates to your relationship with each other.

1. You are mine. (Ownership)

This is a statement of ownership. The Lord is telling us that we do not need to be afraid of anything because he owns us. In fact, he knows our names. He knows us intimately. He knows what hurts us, he knows what causes us to laugh, he knows all of our needs, and he knows our past. In spite of all of this, he loves us.

Does this sound familiar? The two of you know each other pretty well. (Man), you know what hurts (Woman). (Woman), you know what causes (Man) to laugh. You know each other’s needs, and you know each others past. (Woman), you know how much (Man) enjoys video games, and yet you love him – unconditionally.

As you exchange vows in a few minutes you will be transferring ownership of yourself to the other. (Man), you will no longer belong to yourself, you will belong to (Woman). And (Woman), you will belong to (Man). You will own each other. Just as God assures us that our relationship with him is secure, you are telling each other through your vows that your relationship with each other is secure. “I (Man) take you (Woman) to be my wife.” What you are saying to each other is that you know one another and have given everything to possess one another because you love one another.

You will find comfort in your mutual ownership. Knowing that you have given yourself to each other will bring assurance that you will be well taken care of. This leads me to number 2.

2. I will be with you. (Protection)

God assures us that no matter what we go through in life, he is with us. There will be times in your life where you will feel like you are in deep waters, doing everything you can to keep your head above. During those times you may not be aware of everything that is going on around you, but you can be sure that God is present with you.

In the vows you will be exchanging you will declare to one another that, “I will hold you for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health.” No matter what you go through (Man), (Woman) will be with you.

Which reminds me of a difficult time my wife and I went through a couple years after we had been married. I had spent the day with a friend doing some target shooting and in the course of our conversation we brought up or vehicles. My friend has never owned anything but a Corvette. At the time I had a Mazda 323 with around 160,000 miles. I got it in my head that it was time to purchase a newer, better vehicle. So, on the way home from the range I stopped at a dealership and purchased a new car. The salesperson assured me that my wife would love it so I drove it home to surprise her. When I got home I asked my wife, “Guess what I bought?” Pregnant with our first child my wife responded, “You didn’t buy a new gun, did you?” At that point I knew we were going to have a little trouble. I said, “No. Think bigger.” She couldn’t guess so I told her I bought a new car. She asked me how many miles were on it and I told her 27. She couldn’t believe that I would go out and buy a car with only 27000 miles on it when we were expecting our first child and wondered how we would afford that! Then I had to tell her that it only had 27 miles.