Marriage: Most intimate union between man, woman
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Faith Fitness
Bro. Sam Kaufman
When you’re a minister, certain duties and obligations meet you head on.
Some of those responsibilities include doing weddings and funerals. Jokingly, some have said don’t mistake the wedding for the funeral.
I haven’t performed a whole lot of weddings, so when Dan and Naomi recently asked if I would officiate their ceremony, I said, “Sure I would do it.”
Then, the praying began.
The last thing you want as a minister during a wedding ceremony is a mishap or blunder.
Think of stating something to the effect of “wawfully wedded.” It has happened before!
The wedding ceremony required me to search for a new suitcoat to match the groom’s dress colors.
I prayed for that, as well, and God answered.
My wife was looking online for a matching suitcoat. I had other plans. “Where is the nearest Goodwill,” I asked myself.
Is it possible to look like a million bucks in a $5 suitcoat from a thrift store?
I’ll let my wife be the one to answer that. She said she was pleasantly surprised.
My wife and I met with Dan and Naomi at a Mexican restaurant to go over some of the details a couple of weeks before the big event.
Dan said he wanted to pay for our lunch. Knowing that, my wife chose to split an order of chicken fajitas between us.
The cost was about $17, which equated to $8.50 per person. That’s always the way to go. Just get a few extra tortillas. My wife likes flour, and I like corn.
I took notes in a notebook concerning the timeline they desired and a few things about them.
Of course, as the wedding day approached a couple of weeks later, the notebook was nowhere to be found. We eventually found it about a week after the wedding.
In performing the marriage, I had to look up all the common practices involved. For example, I had to get down the precise verbiage with things like “who gives the bride away,” “if there is anybody who objects to these two being united in marriage…,” and the actual vows.
I also had to put together a brief message. My goal was for it to be extra special for this young and sweet couple.
In doing so, I attempted to use biblical principles regarding marriage, along with some of their personal story.
It was God who instituted marriage so long ago. God understood it was not good for man to be alone. That’s when He created a companion for man. God caused the man to enter a deep sleep, took a rib from him and created woman from it.
Then he presented the woman to the man. No doubt, Adam was pleased with God’s creation. Adam then declared, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
What we saw with Dan and Naomi was an extension of that original marital relationship between a man and a woman.
No doubt, Dan was pleased when he first set his sight on Naomi, as well. The protection mode kicked in quickly. After she finished work at Winn-Dixie, Dan was there to walk her to her vehicle.
One great aspect of Dan and Naomi’s relationship is that they are best friends. It was this type of friendship that blossomed into a deeper understanding and love for one another that ultimately led to this day and their decision to spend the rest of their lives together.
To Naomi, God has designed you to be a help meet for Dan. You are to support him and help him through all of life’s endeavors. You are to encourage him by just being there for him. You can make all the difference in his outlook through your deep love for him.
To Dan, you are to protect her, honor her, provide for her, and cherish her for the beautiful and sweet person she is. Take the time, which I know you will, to make her the most special person in your life. If you love her, like Christ loves the church and gave Himself for it, she’ll desire to follow you in everything.
To both of you, the most important aspect is centralizing God in your marriage. When God is first in both of your lives, the relationship will flourish.
The tough times will no doubt come, like they do to all marriages, but God is the one who will get you through every rough stretch.
Marriage is a lifetime relationship. It requires sacrifices, determination and genuine love from both sides.
Marriage is the most intimate union between a man and woman. When the vows are made, God does a special work.
Mark 10:8-9 states, “And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
Truthfully, man cannot put it asunder. Only death annuls this one flesh union. The Bible tells us that “the wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.”
