Precious Moments That Count For EternitySample

The Joyful Married Heart

Today’s verse mentions the gladness that Solomon felt in his heart on the day he got married. Some Bible translations call it the most joyous day of his life!
Similarly, all of us who are married will remember the joy and anticipation we felt on our wedding day. We had, at last, found the person of our dreams - the answer to our prayers – and we could not bear to be away from each other. We had so many hopes, so many plans and so much love to share with our beloved. And now, finally, we were going to be married and live happily ever after.
But soon, the novelty wore off and the humdrumness of housekeeping, babies and bills crept in with the in-laws in tow. All those things that we loved in our spouse now began to get on our nerves. Where, oh where, was the person we fell in love with?
Well, the good news is that person is still the same – it’s just that we have buried them under all our expectations. We stop considering our spouse as our lover and start slotting them as parent to our children, child-in-law to our parents and breadwinner or homemaker to ourselves. No wonder, we can’t stay excited about our beloved.
But Ecclesiastes 9:9 (NIV) exhorts us, “Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun.” It’s time to remove the labels and go back to being lovers. Some spontaneity (a few stolen moments, a little hug, small shared looks) and some planning (regular dates with your spouse, short holidays) will help melt away all that apathy and stoke the fire back into our marriages. It’s time to fill our hearts with gladness again.

Prayer
I thank You Lord for my spouse. I want to keep loving him/her as I first did, so help me to kindle the joy again. In Jesus’ name. Amen.