Ephesians 5:31-33
“31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.
32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.
33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.”

While attending a marriage conference, Tom and his wife, Sally, listened to the speaker: “It is important for husbands and wives to know each other’s likes and dislikes.”

“Men, can you name your wife’s favorite flower?”
Tom leaned over, touched Sally’s arm gently and whispered, “It’s Pillsbury, isn’t it?”

As I write this my wife and I are about to celebrate our twenty-eighth wedding anniversary.

I’ve spent more of my life living with her, than anyone else. Yet, like Tom, I occasionally get things wrong. Does this mean I don’t love her? Not at all. We have spent years building our lives together. We share home, kids, finances and sometimes even the television remote. I would like to say we seamlessly act as one flesh. We strive for unity, but sometimes fall short.

The Lord calls us to an extremely high standard in marriage. One that is really a mystery.

We are supposed to be, “One flesh,” but we often don’t know each other’s, thoughts, and feelings. We have differences, misunderstandings and, occasionally, a hard time communicating. It doesn’t always feel like we are one flesh. Yet, we are called to be one.

Are the expectations of the Lord just too great for us?

In the passage above, Paul is using the overwhelming challenge of a husband and wife to live as one flesh, to compel believers to consider how the church relates to Jesus and how the Lord relates to us. Look again at verse 31, “This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

The world often points out the flaws of Christians, in an attempt, to discredit the holiness of Christ. It’s a profound mystery that Jesus could be “one” with people who often look and act nothing like Him. I agree. It is a miracle.

Thankfully for us, the husband of the Church responds perfectly when we fall short. The Lord’s death on the cross was an act of unfailing love for His bride. That is where He forgave His people and became truly one with us.

When it comes to a perfect marriage, Jesus has it with His church. Not because of the Church, but because He is so very good.
By the way Jesus knows your favorite flower. He understands your greatest concern and can meet your every need. He knows everything about you. He covers you in His graciousness and in His love, always, without fail. He will never leave you or forsake you.

I’m humbled by marriage and encouraged by the Lord.
I hope you are too.

If you are wondering about the title of this post. The flower for a twenty-eighth anniversary is an orchid. I just found out my bride doesn’t like them very much. Our flower next year will be the Celosia, for year twenty-nine. I have no idea what they are.

I’ll have to find out if we like them.