A cross close to the church in Grense Jakobselv, Norway. Suomi: Risti kirkon lähellä Vuoremijoella, Norjassa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We’re heading into the summer (…apparently…) and that means wedding season! Now I love weddings, but having watched Don’t Tell The Bride probably once or twice (or forty times) more often than I should have has underlined what I think we already know: there’s a touch too much emphasis on the wedding, and not enough on the marriage.
Allow me to be a touch controversial and suggest that the last day of a person’s marriage is infinitely more important than the first. Just think about that for a moment.
Charles & Diana had the fairytale wedding but I expect both of them would have swapped the perfect day for a dream marriage. And compare that with a couple who suffered a cheap, rainy wedding day on which that uncle fell out with that cousin, but can laugh about it together 60 years later. Who doesn’t love seeing an elderly couple holding hands?!
The same’s true of Christianity. Who would you rather be: the pastor’s son who lived a good childhood and starting leading a church, but ended up losing his faith, cheating on his wife and dying bitter and alone, or the chief of sinners who repented and was congratulated on his last day for having kept the faith and fought the good fight?
Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you’ve done, you can always look ahead to your last day. The time to start preparing is now.
