As John and I celebrate our 48^th wedding anniversary we are aware that we are living in the midst of spiritual warfare and on the frontline of battle are our marriages. For if the enemy can defeat our marriages he has got an influence over our children, the strength of the local church (for churches are only as strong as the families in the church), the moral fiber of our society and last but not least, weakening the witness are marriages should be to the mystical union twixt Christ and His Bride, the church.

Our marriages are a love story, a drama played out on a stage of opposition from the enemy, the flesh, and the influence of a fallen world. But on that same stage is played out the greatest love story ever told. The story of a heroic Knight who left the glory of His palace to seek His beloved Bride and rescue her by laying down his life willingly to save her from the hands of the opposition.

Act One: The potential Bride is created and the Father says it is very good.

Act Two: The Bride falls to the power of the enemy because of a choice pleasing to the flesh resulting in a fallen world spiraling towards destruction.

Act Three: The loving heroic Knight invades the enemy’s territory to rescue His Bride by willingly laying down His life.

Act Four: The Knight is miraculously raised from the dead and returns home to prepare a place for His rescued bride.

Act Five: In the Father’s divine plan, it is the time that He has ordained that we may play out our parts in the drama. On one side of the stage stand the enemy; the flesh and a fallen world ready to wage war against our marriages. On the other side enters our Knight, His Father and His Messenger bearing gifts of forgiveness, grace, power and love to protect, restore and strengthen our marriages. In the center on middle stage we join the drama holding the gift of choice and free will, which the Father gave us in Act One.

It doesn’t matter where we have come from or what we have done in the past with this choice. This is a brand new scene still being written and we still have the choice and the responsibility of the outcome as the curtain falls on the part we played in history. Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses in the heavenilies who are watching this drama played out with anticipated breath, are we committed to do what we can to fight for and protect the witness of our marriages?

Will we fight the enemy, deny the flesh and overcome the world?

Our marriages are more than just about us! They are about future generations; they are about being conformed to His image; they are about being a witness to a fallen world; they are about upholding the Father’s divine plan and purpose for marriage and defeating the enemy at his frontline of attack.

As the curtain falls on the last line of the scene we played, will we be saying, “ I have finished the course, I have kept the faith”, as heaven applauds, while the Father declares,  “Well done thy good and faithful servant.”