The Gift Of Marriage

The Gift of Marriage

The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the LORD.

Proverbs 18:22

THE RESEARCH IS IN, and marriage is the winner. It’s true. Married people are happier, healthier, and more satisfied with life than are singles. (And the people who are happiest of all are those who have been married to the same person over the long haul.) It seems that contemporary people are discovering by means of sociological research what the Bible declared to be true thousands of years ago.

It was God who said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). The first man, Adam, had a vocation. He had a place to live and plenty of animals to pet. He even had a relationship with God. But it was God’s analysis that Adam needed a wife. God had created all the animals in pairs—male and female—but had initially created only one human. Eve’s creation was not an afterthought. God didn’t say, “Oh, I forgot to make a woman. I’d better take care of that.” No! It was a matter of timing. God’s intention all along was to create people both male and female, but he first wanted to give Adam time to survey the world and discover the need for companionship—a counterpart to himself. Then God created what he termed “a helper who is just right for him.”

King Solomon tells us in Proverbs 18 that the man who finds a wife—or, we can extrapolate, the woman who finds a husband—finds a treasure. Marriage is a beautiful gift from the Lord.

Father, thank you for my spouse and for the gift of marriage. I am so grateful to have a mate who can be my companion through life. Let me never forget that my spouse is a treasure and a reward from you. Help me to treat him or her accordingly.

Gift of Marriage