Luke 2:19

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

What kinds of things are you pondering in your heart?  Is it past hurts and resentments?  Is it guilt or regret?  Is it bitterness or prejudice?  We all have dark thoughts that threaten to take hold of us.  Choose instead to follow Mary's example and focus on what God has done.  Think of His blessings, His mercies that are new every morning. 

May this be our prayer today - May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and Redeemer.  (Psalm 19:14)

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said: "My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..."

Mary responded to the angel's message with praise.  How do we respond to God's Word?

Luke 1:18

"I am the Lord's servant, " Mary answered.  "May it be to me as you have said."

Sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness of life and serving those around us - our husbands, our children - that we forget that first and foremost we are to serve God.  It is wonderful to serve God within our own homes, but we need to be attentive to His promptings and be willing to follow wherever He leads.

Matthew 5:27-28

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

For a woman whose husband struggles with lust, the meaning here is pretty obvious.  When a man looks lustfully at another woman, he is seeking pleasure from her that he should only find with his wife.  A continued problem in this area leads the wife to feelings of inferiority - I'm not what he wants, if only I were prettier/thinner/bigger busted...  A wife has the right to be the only person her husband desires.

But this is a two-way street.  What about us as wives?  We tend to think of lust as a male problem, but many women struggle with it as well.  We should not be looking with desire at anyone other than our husbands.  Just as is the case with our husbands, we need to be selective about the books we read and the movies we watch.  Many romance novels are pretty pornographic.  Their purpose is to arouse the reader and ultimately make her unsatisfied with her own life.  Beware of Christian romance novels, too.  While they aren't necessarily bad, the perfect heroes in the book can cause a woman to wish her husband was more like that, and become dissatisfied with her marriage.  Read with caution!

And then there's Hollywood.  Some female relatives and I were recently discussing who should be People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive"...and then I realized that talking about good-looking movie stars isn't exactly honoring to my husband.  I have a friend who won't watch a certain TV show because she finds the star attractive and doesn't want to be thinking improper thoughts.  Another friend called her husband to pick her up from the theater on a recent girls night out, because her friends had decided to see a movie about male strippers.

Sound extreme?  Ephesians 5:3 tells us that there is not to be "even a hint of sexual immorality".  The next verse says we are to avoid coarse joking.  Sure, mentioning that a particular actor is good-looking doesn't necessarily mean I want to sleep with him, but it is a step in that direction.  I think women often have a double standard - I can say George Clooney is hot, but my husband had better not say the same thing about Catherine Zeta-Jones.  If I'm not comfortable with my husband saying or watching something, I shouldn't be doing a similar thing. 

Avoid lust in any form.  We need to take captive every thought and make them obedient to Christ (II Corinthians 10:5)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have you thanked God for your husband today?  Have you told your husband you're thankful for him?

Matthew 4:23

...and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

I've often wondered about the wives of the disciples.  What did they think when their husbands came home and told them they'd found the Messiah?  Did they pack up the family and go with them?  Did they stay and hold down the fort?  Did they fret about how their needs would be met with their husbands not working?  Did they worry about what the neighbors would think?  Did they fear for their safety?

The Scriptures don't tell us.  What they do say is that these men left everything to follow Jesus.  They put Jesus first, and followed Him to death.

We must never stand between our husbands and God's will for them.  If God says go - whether it's to the mission field, to the pulpit, or to stand up against corrupt business practices - we need to support them.  God will take care of the rest. 

Matthew 1:19

Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

This marriage lesson comes from a husband, not a wife, but it's still very applicable to women.  Mary was pregnant, and all Joseph knew for sure was that he was not the father.  I can't imagine the struggle he must have gone through, but it's easy to understand why he had trouble believing her.  After all, her story was literally out of this world.  And so his decision to end their relationship is understandable.  What's notable, though, is what he didn't do.

Joseph refused to make a public spectacle of Mary.  He could have.  By law he could have even had her stoned.  But he chose to keep their private matters private and not cause her further embarassment.

Do we do that?  When our husbands do something wrong, or foolish, or annoying, do we keep quiet about it or do we make it a public issue?  Do we call up our mothers and say "He did it again!"  Do we get together for coffee with a friend and air all of our marital grievances?  Do we post his embarassing moment on Facebook because "it's so funny!"

Before doing any of those things, think about it.  Is it honoring to our husbands?  Is this a story or complaint that needs to be shared?  How would we feel if our husbands talked to their friends about a similar situation? 

Let's follow Joseph's lead and keep such matters to ourselves.  If it is something that needs to be discussed (a serious marital problem or sin issue), choose your confidant carefully, and make sure you're telling them for the right reasons.  Ask for permission before sharing stories.  Our husbands should be honored, respected, and valued.

Matthew 1:1-17

Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar...Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab...Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth...David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife...and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus...

Five women are listed in Matthew's genealogy of Christ.  Tamar slept with her father-in-law in order to obtain the son who, according to their culture, was hers by right.  Rahab was a prostitute.  Ruth was a foreigner, from an ungodly pagan land.  Bathsheba cheated on her husband, Uriah, and was impregnated by King David, who then had Uriah killed.  Mary was a young virgin, with child by the Holy Spirit, but betrothed to Joseph.

What we see here is that Jesus' human family tree was far from perfect.  God chose an unworthy cast of characters through whom He would fulfill His promise. 

Because of Jesus, these women were not defined by their pasts.  Because of Jesus, we are not either.  Whatever mistakes we have made, whatever people say about us, however the world wants to label us - Jesus can set us free. 

Malachi 2:16

"I hate divorce," says the Lord God of Israel...So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

This passage is about Judah's unfaithfulness to God, but Malachi uses marriage to symbolize the relationship between God and His people.  Once again we see that our marriages are supposed to reflect Christ and His faithfulness and unfailing love. 

Forgiveness and faithfulness are to be at the heart of every marriage.  As we are not perfect people, we cannot have a perfect marriage.  But we can work together to overcome obstacles.  Zechariah 4:6 reminds us that God says it's "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit."  God knows we can't do it alone, and He doesn't expect us to.  Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to counsel and comfort us, and it is through Him we can do all things.

Hosea

God instructs Hosea to take a prostitute as his wife, as an illustration of how Israel has been unfaithful Him.  The book of Hosea is a beautiful promise of God's unfailing love for sinners, and the hope we have of redemption through Him.

So many people today are confused as to what marriage is all about.  Some claim it's merely a piece of paper - that they can be committed to each other without making it "official".  Today in Minnesota voters are heading to the polls to define what they think marriage should be.  But I'm afraid we - even within the church - have lost sight of what marriage is intended to be.

Marriage is supposed to be a symbol of Christ's love for the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33).  Our husband's love for us, our submission to and respect of him, our mutual faithfulness and partnership, all should point people to Jesus.

Can the world see Jesus in your marriage?

Song of Solomon 8:7

Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.

Marriage is hard!  There are bills and children and unemployment and sickness and chores and in-laws and car trouble and deadlines and headaches.  Add to that two sinful people - people who are selfish and prideful and lazy and lustful and angry and spiteful and who just cannot hold their tongues.  And love is supposed to be stronger than all of this? 

This is where that third strand in Ecclesiastes 4 is so vitally important.  Can the love of two people withstand the raging waters of life?  Not easily.  But God can.  And He will help those who trust in Him.

Song of Solomon

It is so beautiful that God, in His Word, chooses to show us the tenderness of sexual intimacy within a marriage.  He wants us to know that it is an integral part of the bond between a husband and a wife.  God gave us sex as something to be enjoyed and celebrated.