Tying the Knot

What is the purpose of marriage? Ultimately the purpose of a marriage is to glorify God. But in a more temporal and personal sense, why should I choose to get married as opposed to remaining single? Because I need a man to take care of me? Bull. Because my family says I should? I'm sorry but I refuse. Because it's what people do? I'm not people. I'm me. Because it's provides security? My security is Christ. Because it's socially acceptable? Screw it. Because it's a beneficial social alliance? Maybe. But I could care less.

Abraham got Isaac a wife because God had promised that he would be a great nation so obviously Isaac had to marry at some point. Jacob fell in love with one, ended up with two, and proceeded to procreate as fast as he could. Joseph got a wife as a bonus with his position. David just kinda picked 'em up as he went along. Solomon went nuts. God told Hosea to choose a prostitute in order to make a statement. Noah had a wife though it doesn't tell us the circumstances of his marriage. Lot's wife wasn't very useful, except maybe for seasoning. The woman in the Song of Songs was desired by the king but conducting a love affair with her beloved shepherd. Aquila and Priscilla were the dynamic double team duo of the New Testment and they seemed more like work buddies rather than the traditional approach. Sure there are plenty of marriages in the Bible. Good ones, bad ones, failures and successes. But it still doesn't tell me why I should get married.

I think people get married depending on what they want or need in life. Some want a good looking spouse to ensure good looking kids. Some want a wealthy spouse to ensure financial security. Some want a spouse from a good family to ensure a lasting relationship. Some families push marriage to build a beneficial social alliance. Some just get married for the sake of getting married not really sure what to expect. And some just want the company. I'm not saying that these things are good or bad. I'm not making a judgement. I'm just trying to figure out where I stand (or fall) on the continuum of knot-tying.

I have to be honest here. I think people make marriage out to be something that it's not. And I'm not saying they don't mean well. Just that I disagree. Yes, marriage is important and marriage is for life. But so is getting a tattoo. Okay wait, I'm not attempting to belittle marriage. But I keep hearing about how marriage shouldn't be taken lightly. For heaven's sake, I know it shouldn't be taken lightly, but it also shouldn't be as burdensome as people often make it out to be. I mean, why the heck are there like eight hundred things to consider including social status, financial status, family background, spiritual level, education, job, the security they can offer, their height, their weight, their ethnic origin, denominational leanings, their citizenship, etc. What an exhaustive (and exhausting) list! Seriously, it makes me wonder why on earth God would institute something so incredibly complicated! And, maybe He didn't...

Maybe we're the ones making it all complicated and serious. Let us, for a moment, go back to Scripture:

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he 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,' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

I love this text. There is committment, love, sexuality, sensuality, exclusivity, acceptance, concern, companionship, etc. We find here all the concepts and ideas associated with marriage at the time of its institution. But why? Why does God even bother?

It is not good for man to be alone.

It's that simple. Why would I ever want to get married? Only if there was somebody out there that made life more worth living than if I was living it alone. God made Adam and God made Eve. When God brought Eve to Adam, I sure Adam's heart skipped a beat and he knew in an instant who the creature standing before him was. The Bible says nothing about whether she was taller or shorter or smarter or faster or richer. How did they know they were meant for each other? From the way Scripture makes it sound, I'd say perhaps it had a lot to do with that interesting little phenomenon we call...*drumroll please*...chemistry! Don't believe me? Just read the text again. I'm sure Adam was smitten the moment he laid eyes on her and I'm sure it was love at first sight for Eve. Imagine that, the first marriage initiated by chemistry. See, I really do believe that God knows what makes us feel good and He also knows what's good for us.

That's all I want to say about that for now.