We often find marriage getting pushed to the sidelines of life to give way to other responsibilities. But looking at the way God designed marriage and how Jesus exemplified it by being the bridegroom of the church, we see that that's just not the way God intended for things to happen.
As married professionals, we find that life can get pretty overwhelming. The constant screams of bills, work tasks, children, ministry, money issues, emergencies and unforeseen circumstances can pile up.
And as schedules get crazier and crazier and more and more of our time gets eaten up by the pressures of the world, some of the first things to go are times spent with our spouses -- date nights, family vacations, and even just those one to two hours of end-of-the-day moments that are packed with so much meaning.
Many couples think that working hard at their jobs and taking care of their kids should be considered as expressions of commitment to a marriage. How many of you have ever heard yourselves say, "Well, I'm doing this for the family, right? Keeping meals on the table and our kids off the streets." While those things fill up a portion of our role, it's not the whole picture.
Where (who) your treasure is
When God concocted the idea of marriage, He did not mean for it to just be a "job" to maintain but a blessing to enjoy. Marriage is a treasure, and the Bible makes it clear that "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21)
Work and money are things of this world, but God wants us to invest in heavenly and spiritual treasures -- God-honoring relationships, including marriages. Our relationships with our spouses are not just means to escape the craziness of life, but a means of resting and refreshing the soul.
Fight for quality time
Remember that the Father created an Eden for the first couple. Why? Because He wanted them both to enjoy each other's presence. Though sometimes we have to admit that it doesn't seem like we're in Eden anymore, that doesn't mean that we are not to fight for each other's time.
Sure, work will demand for your time, but so does your spouse. In the end, we will not look back to the times we spent working, but the times we spent with people who mattered most -- our family, and most especially our husband or wife.
Things worth getting are things worth fighting for, and we will never go wrong fighting for our time invested in our marriages. The one perfect example we follow is Jesus Himself, who made no excuse but did everything in His power to keep communion with His bride -- the church -- even coming down to earth as man and dying on the cross so that we may be sanctified and given the right to enter His presence at any time.
