The Thread Weaving Through...

In this week’s, (or months depending on how quickly I get used to this blogging thing) entry, I want to tie a few books I am reading together. One of them is the Bible (a few of the Minor Prophets in particular), and another is a book I am reading with my wife Sacred Marriage.
I will start with the Bible reading I have been doing. The last few days I have been able to read Nahum and Zephaniah, which are tiny books in the Bible that most people most likely have not even heard of. If my memory serves me correct, this is the first time I have ever read them. A few cool things I noticed are first, they both, (although especially Zephaniah) are so very gospel oriented. It shows Gods wrath against sin and mankind because of the fall, and then his promise to redeem his people. There is prophecy of Christ’s eventual coming, and it ends in a hope for that day. After listening to Tim Keller’s talk on Evangelism and Postmodernism and his ideas that all theology must be gospel based, I have a new appreciation for these books, and thinking that all theology I stand on must be an exposition of Christ’s redemption in my life.
Now usually when I read a book like Nahum, where God says things like "Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder… dead bodies without end – they stumble over the bodies" (Nahum 3:1,3) my immediate thoughts are how sinful these people must have been to deserve a wrath like this. My thoughts tend to drift into how I have never sinned this badly and deserved this type of wrath. My thoughts are absolutely sinful, because all I really think about is how bad these people were, and how I have never been that bad. I am shown daily how wrong I am in my thoughts, and I thank God for his works of grace to wake me up and show me this, which leads me to the second book I am reading, Sacred Marriage.

It is actually the single best book on marriage that I have ever read, and anyone who is married, or about to be married should certainly read it. It is honest, real, easy to read, and solid in its theology. One thing that the writer Gary Thomas often reminds me in this book, is how sinful I am. My marriage also reminds me of this daily. When I lose my temper, when I cannot control my tongue with my wife, when I act selfishly, when I think negative thoughts, when I fail to lead and love my wife as Christ does His church. It is in these times that I am in an utter state of sin, with nothing but the sheer grace of God to hold me up. God would be saying to me: "Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard." (Nahum 2:13) My sin is just as bad as the people of the Old Testament. Marriage shows me this each and every day.

And this is one of the main reasons I utterly enjoy being married. One thing I have learned quickly while being married is that it is the most sanctifying covenant I will be in on my earthly life (besides the covenant with Jesus obviously). God uses this relationship to open my eyes to sins I have never known before, and He then changes me. Then what is said in Zephaniah is true for me: "The LORD has taken away the judgements against you: he has cleared away your enemies… Fear not, O Zion: let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." (Zephaniah 3:15,16-17)

-Jeremy