"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Genesis 2:24
I can say with near absolute certainty that I've never been to a family reunion for my own personal, blood-related family. Because of God leading my parents away from our home state of Illinois to serve a church in eastern North Carolina, the family reunions that we normally attended were those of fellow church members who graciously invited their pastor and his family. My dad was usually asked to pray, which meant that we got to eat a wonderful meal and pretend that we were a part of this lovely family, many of whom we didn't even know!
Thankfully, what I've missed out on with my own family, I've been able to make up for with my husband's family. I get to be a part of the typical family reunion traditions like hearing the family folklore and catching up on a year of family happenings within a few hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Regardless of the fact that all of the family reunions that I have ever attended have been missing that key ingredient called "blood relation," I was blessed to have received something even greater in its place. I grew up with firsthand knowledge of what "leaving and cleaving" (as the KJV phrases it) truly meant. I was an eyewitness to what it takes to fully rely on God to take care of your family because the closest relative was nine hundred miles away. I learned that when a husband and wife seek to honor God with their lives, you go wherever He sends you and He'll take care of the rest.
When we read in the creation account that God intended for a man and his wife to leave what they had once known to be their home and start a new one with their mate, Adam and Eve got off quite easy because neither of them had a previous home, nor parents who had raised them from birth! We, on the other hand, have it a little harder.
I've seen many young couples enter into the covenant of marriage and struggle immensely with the concept of leaving and cleaving. One, or both, will struggle with wanting to run back to Mom and Dad whenever times get tough and the challenges of being a young, married couple become tougher than they realized they would be. It is such a sad thing to witness because until they realize that God's purpose of leaving and cleaving was for the good of their marriage, they'll be treading a rocky road.
Leaving and cleaving doesn't require being separated by hundreds of miles, but rather it's more of a state of mind. It's believing that when God joined you together, He established a new family that required a perspective change for practically every relationship you have. There is the practical aspect like one or both spouses moving from one residence to establish a new home with their mate. But cleaving is less practical and more emotional. Cleaving doesn't just denote the joining of two bodies together, but it supposes that your spouse is second only to God in your heart.
Whether or not you are married, you are surrounded by people everyday whose marriage might or might not reflect God's perfect plan for marriage and God's desire for husbands and wives to leave and cleave to each other. Unfortunately, more than fifty percent of couples who choose to be married will one day choose to seek a divorce. Will you be a proponent for God's perfect design for the foundation of marriage?
If you are married, God desires for your marriage to be a reflection of His perfect plan. Is there evidence in your marriage that you have truly "left and cleft"?
Will you pray for young couples who struggle though the first few years of marriage because they have yet to fully cleave to their spouse?
In this day and time of broken homes, will you offer Biblical advice on marriage whenever given the opportunity?
I'm so thankful for the beautiful example of marriage that I witnessed as a child, and that I am hoping to replicate for my children. We all might come into our marriages with more baggage than Adam and Even had, but the blessings of a God honoring marriage far outweigh the baggage that we bring with us!
I can say with near absolute certainty that I've never been to a family reunion for my own personal, blood-related family. Because of God leading my parents away from our home state of Illinois to serve a church in eastern North Carolina, the family reunions that we normally attended were those of fellow church members who graciously invited their pastor and his family. My dad was usually asked to pray, which meant that we got to eat a wonderful meal and pretend that we were a part of this lovely family, many of whom we didn't even know!
Thankfully, what I've missed out on with my own family, I've been able to make up for with my husband's family. I get to be a part of the typical family reunion traditions like hearing the family folklore and catching up on a year of family happenings within a few hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Regardless of the fact that all of the family reunions that I have ever attended have been missing that key ingredient called "blood relation," I was blessed to have received something even greater in its place. I grew up with firsthand knowledge of what "leaving and cleaving" (as the KJV phrases it) truly meant. I was an eyewitness to what it takes to fully rely on God to take care of your family because the closest relative was nine hundred miles away. I learned that when a husband and wife seek to honor God with their lives, you go wherever He sends you and He'll take care of the rest.
When we read in the creation account that God intended for a man and his wife to leave what they had once known to be their home and start a new one with their mate, Adam and Eve got off quite easy because neither of them had a previous home, nor parents who had raised them from birth! We, on the other hand, have it a little harder.
I've seen many young couples enter into the covenant of marriage and struggle immensely with the concept of leaving and cleaving. One, or both, will struggle with wanting to run back to Mom and Dad whenever times get tough and the challenges of being a young, married couple become tougher than they realized they would be. It is such a sad thing to witness because until they realize that God's purpose of leaving and cleaving was for the good of their marriage, they'll be treading a rocky road.
Leaving and cleaving doesn't require being separated by hundreds of miles, but rather it's more of a state of mind. It's believing that when God joined you together, He established a new family that required a perspective change for practically every relationship you have. There is the practical aspect like one or both spouses moving from one residence to establish a new home with their mate. But cleaving is less practical and more emotional. Cleaving doesn't just denote the joining of two bodies together, but it supposes that your spouse is second only to God in your heart.
Whether or not you are married, you are surrounded by people everyday whose marriage might or might not reflect God's perfect plan for marriage and God's desire for husbands and wives to leave and cleave to each other. Unfortunately, more than fifty percent of couples who choose to be married will one day choose to seek a divorce. Will you be a proponent for God's perfect design for the foundation of marriage?
If you are married, God desires for your marriage to be a reflection of His perfect plan. Is there evidence in your marriage that you have truly "left and cleft"?
Will you pray for young couples who struggle though the first few years of marriage because they have yet to fully cleave to their spouse?
In this day and time of broken homes, will you offer Biblical advice on marriage whenever given the opportunity?
I'm so thankful for the beautiful example of marriage that I witnessed as a child, and that I am hoping to replicate for my children. We all might come into our marriages with more baggage than Adam and Even had, but the blessings of a God honoring marriage far outweigh the baggage that we bring with us!
Jesus knows my heart.....my failure at God's plan in marriage has ........infected..........my soul......and it has even done so to my grandchildren.....at 5, 8, and 10.....they say they don't want to marry.....I've got a lot of work to do...of course God's plan is perfect.....I pray for all young and old couples.....to serve God in marriage and even then.satan will not give up..he is the destroyer. I pray that God will lead me in my desire to teach them God's way.....not the path that I've journeyed.... so far...
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