Until Death Do You Part

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."
Ephesians 5:31 (NIV)

"The wife of your marriage covenant."
Malachi 2:14 (NIV)

What does it mean to draw a hard line in the dirt and never step back over it?

Hardline means definite, unyielding, and unbreakable. That's what you draw the day you marry. In today’s verse, Paul reaches back to the first marriage to explain yours. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." The prophet Malachi calls your spouse "the wife of your marriage covenant."

It’s not an agreement, or even a contract. Marriage is a covenant. It’s an oath not casually broken. A contract gets renegotiated once it becomes inconvenient. A covenant can't be, since it's never just between two people. God is the third party in your marriage, mirroring the covenant Jesus keeps with His church.

You owe your wife, your kids, and your God the same promise. Kids grow up and move out, but you'll still be married. Grandkids come and go, but you'll still be married. When you're tempted to walk out of a hard conversation instead of through it, remember what you’ve signed–it’s a covenant.

I heard a story about a young husband who once lost his wife to a drunk driver not long after their wedding. He said that the last day of marriage was the most important day of all. I don't know when my last day will come, but I believe my marriage's last day will be its best one.

Let your last day be the best day, because by God’s grace, you can end it the way it began, until death do you part.

Prayer: Father, thank You for being the third party in my marriage covenant. When I'm tempted to treat this like a contract I can walk away from, remind me what I actually signed. Help me stay when staying is hard. In Jesus' Name, Amen.