The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:22-25 NASB
I’ve been putting puzzles together lately (in the down time) with my family. Recently we completed this 1500 piece puzzle. Wow! Sometimes two pieces look like they “go together”… you can even squeeze them together, but the picture isn’t right. It doesn’t reveal what the maker wanted. That’s what happens when we distort the husband/wife marriage relationship. How could two parts be more perfectly fit, than if they once were the same thing? Like two puzzle pieces, man and woman are beautifully created by God (using Adam’s rib as the source of Eve). Together, man and woman reveal the ‘image’ of God. Attempts to follow our own lusts for something else does a disservice to the creator who is trying to reveal Himself to us. Just because you ‘can’ do something, doesn’t mean you ‘should’ do it. God has a timeless revelation of His desire for us… and in it there is included a profound purpose. Let’s strive to discover it in its simplicity and preserve creative order (the alternative is quite ‘less than’).
How am I relating to my wife? Am I treasuring her in my heart as the gift that she is? Am I seeing the more full revelation of God in her… or am I stuck with the incomplete picture in the mirror?
God, as this day begins- I am thinking about the world You’ve made. But, also, I am grieving the sinful acts of so many. Where You reign there is peace. I pray for our country. On this Sunday, may the airwaves and pulpits be filled with the preaching of the law of love and righteousness. Give pastors courage and resolve to lead, to think, to hear Your voice. Let us pray “on earth as it is in heaven”.
