Wednesday, November 1, 2017

INITIATE

There are some women who hate the idea of submission in marriage.  Honestly, I believe that's a far easier task than the one God lays on the shoulders of the man.  And truthfully, it's one that I don't know that I even desire because of the enormity of it.

But God put it on us as men and husbands and fathers.

Here it is.

God comes to the woman and says, 'In this relationship I've created and built, you're going to submit to Christ-like leadership.'

And there isn't a woman on the planet who would buck at leadership that is Christ-like.

Then God says to the man, 'And YOU?  You're going to love her the way I love the church.'

So you start drilling down on that.  What does that look like?  How does Christ love the church?  He rescues her, He saves her, He becomes sin for her, He has His body ripped apart for her, He sacrifices everything for her - and here's the kicker:  He does it, not because the bride asked for it.  He initiates it on His own.

The bride never once comes to Jesus saying, 'I need You.  If you get the chance, could You save me.  The bride never comes to Jesus to say, 'I'm going to worship You and serve You every day of my life and love You like no other.'

The church - the bride - couldn't care less about Jesus at that moment.  And yet, He initiates the salvation of His bride.

Really.

What does that mean?  It means the mantle on every married man - every father - every single dad - is to initiate.

Initiate in his marriage - initiate in his family - initiate the personal fight for purity and wholeness - initiate the healing - initiate the prayer - initiate the Bible reading - initiate the grace and mercy - initiate the communication -- initiate, initiate, initiate, initiate.

Have a nice day.

And be blessed.

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