30 Years Ago

“REED” This

 

30 Years Ago

 

Can you think back thirty years ago? The year was 1991. That spring was my final semester of college. In April of that year, I sang my senior voice recital. In May, I graduated from Ouachita Baptist University. Then in June, on the fifteenth day of that month, I married my beautiful wife, Debbie. The Bible tells us that God created a helpmate for Adam because it was not good for him to be alone. He made a woman that was just the perfect mate for him. He did that for me when He created Debbie and brought us together. I love her so much and am so grateful for God making her for me. There is no doubt in my mind that we were meant to be husband and wife. On June 15, 1991, we said our vows to God and one another that we would love one another and stay together for the rest of our lives. We made that commitment and have stuck with it even though some difficult times have come our way. We know we are committed to one another and committed to this marriage. God brought us together and through His strength and help, we have stayed together. He has blessed us with two wonderful, healthy boys and blessed us with a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter now. He has blessed us in allowing us to serve in several churches and live in four different states together. And even though we have faced and gone through many trials and difficult times, we always have known we had each other, and we had the Lord with us.

 

A strong marriage commitment is such a wonderful blessing. But there is an even stronger commitment that we can experience. When we commit our lives to Jesus, that relationship with Him is even stronger. Not always from our side, but on God’s side of the commitment. We don’t always follow Him in the correct ways and many times we even act against Him. We don’t always hold up our side of the relationship. God, however, always holds up His side of the commitment. He never lets us down, never disappoints, and never breaks a promise. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:11-13, “This is a trustworthy saying: ‘If we die with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will deny us. If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is.’” Even when we sin against God and are unfaithful to keep our walk clean, God remains faithful to us and continues to hold us in His hands. He will never fail us and will always keep us as His children. His incredible commitment to us is overwhelming because His great love for us is overwhelming. That’s why Paul writes in Ephesians 5:25, “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her.” We are to love our wives with the same sacrificial, unselfish, agape love that Jesus has shown to us. We can’t be perfect like Jesus, but we can strive to be.

 

I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but thankfully, there has been a lot of forgiveness. My marriage is far from perfect, but it is strong because our commitment is first to God and then to each other. He gives us the example and we strive to follow it. I’m grateful for the thirty years He has blessed me with my beautiful, loving wife, and I pray she can handle another thirty or more with me. And as far as the other, I’m grateful for the forty-seven years of being held in my Savior’s hand after committing my life to Him.

 

Bro. Paul Reed

 

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

 

 


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