We’ve taken prayer out of the schools. We’ve deleted family devotion from most households. We’ve removed The Ten Commandments from many staple buildings. And now, we hear of sects of people who are on a mission to take legal actions against the publishers of Bibles, accusing these producers of creating materials that offend their lifestyle. It’s a way of life that goes directly against the Word of God, but one that our nation—even the so-called Christians therein—has embraced. We are on a fast and dangerous downward spiral, and with all of the obvious signs around us, we still sit and scratch our heads in wonderment while trying to figure out why our children have turned wicked, our government is in disarray and even our churches are unraveling at the seams. The answer is simple. We have forgotten God.
It doesn’t take much to forget about putting God first. Getting carried away with the materialistic and selfish habits of the world has become commonplace. It seems like everywhere we turn, there are false idols and images, along with other “voices,” that demand our attention. From vocalists to movie stars to fashion trends that leave nothing to the stretch of our imagination, distractions are constantly being put in place to lead us away from God. It’s one thing to have a passing interest or a casual fascination, but when one puts the importance of these things before the importance of Christ, those things then become idols and false gods.
Most self-proclaimed Christians would be quick to say, “Not me! God is the head of my life. I don’t put anything before Him.” Or… here’s a popular favorite: “You can’t judge me!” As the spiritual covering of our ministry has often said, “It’s true that God didn’t make us judges, but He did make us fruit inspectors.” The Scripture reference can be found in Matthew 7:20-23. “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” What a miserable and terrible day that will be when so many “You can’t judge me!” churchgoers will stand before God and be turned away from heaven because their actions didn’t line up with His Word.
Countless “Christians” fall into this category of hypocrites. Their conversation, what they support, how they behave, how they spend most of their time, where they spend the majority of their resources … little or none of it points to God or kingdom work. All of us probably know at least one person who is so focused on a celebrity (movie, television, sports, music, political, etc.) figure that it nearly consumes them. They try to dress like them, act like then, look like them. Perhaps, even without them being aware of it, they have made a person a false god. Somewhere along the way, what once may have been innocent admiration, turned into idol worship.
Today, it has become a challenge for most people—even those who claim Christianity—to stand up for God and reflect the very image and likeness of Him. We live in a perverse and rebellious post-modernized 21st century culture, wherein it appears that the hearts and minds of the vast majority have hardened against God’s will for mankind. The devil is on a rampage. He’s already doomed to eternal damnation, and he’s working overtime to take as many with him as he can. He’s on a mission to kill, steal and destroy, and marriages, perhaps, are taking the biggest hit of all. The marriage covenant between a husband and wife is supposed to be a carbon copy reflection of Christ (as the Husband) and Christians (as the wife, i.e. the bride of Christ). That’s why marriages are at the top of satan’s hit list.
1 Corinthians 11:3 (New International Version) states this: “But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” Yes, God has high expectations for married people because we represent Him. But trust us when we say that you’ll never regret being this example. When we pattern our marriages after God’s blueprint, we experience a level of love and harmony that is unparalleled to any other relationship in our lives!
It seems unthinkable, doesn’t it? The holy, sovereign, all-powerful God of the universe, in whose name we claim to receive salvation, regularly gets dismissed in our marriages, not to mention in the everyday hustle and clutter of the routines of life. If we all took honest inventory and did a straightforward self-examination, many of us would have to admit that we forget about God all the time.
If there is any comfort to take in all of this, it is that God is omniscient. He’s all-knowing. What that means is nothing is a surprise to Him. God knew that many would forget Him. That’s why the Scriptures make an appeal to us to practice God-remembrance—more commonly known as worship. We are called to participate in the practice of what we like to call “intentional” worship. We have to worship God on purpose. Life will always throw curves that will make it easy to overlook quality time with God, so we have to consciously make God a requirement and not an option in our daily schedules. God honors our worship. It tells Him that we love Him, trust Him, thank Him AND remember Him. As couples and as individuals, we are urged to maintain our relationship with the One who designed both us, and the institution of marriage, for His glory.
John 4:23 (NLT) states, “But the time is coming—indeed it is here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.” If we go too long without calling to mind God’s character or responding in sensitive affection to God’s presence, we will forget about Him. And the longer we are away from Him, the easier it will be for our time and energy to be drawn into other things (or people).
Those things that happen when a nation forgets God are the same things that happen when a union forgets God. Things fall apart. Disillusion, disarray and destruction happen. When we don’t pray together, when we don’t read and apply God’s Word together, when we don’t worship together, that’s when we open up our unions for the enemy to enter and cause chaos. Within the marriage bond, we should regularly be engaging with one another and with God so that our “married love” stays solid. Two committed people in a marriage make the bond strong and able to endure many outside forces, but it’s not enough. We need Christ as our divine reinforcement. He’s our assurance to survive the wiles (tricks, ploys, deceptions) of the devil.
In Ecclesiastes 4:12 (English Standard Version) the Word of God says, “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Let us never forget to include God in our marriage covenant. And not just include Him, but to allow Him to be the head.
Drs. Michael & Kendra Holmes are the senior pastors of Deliverance Revival Church in Warner Robins, the founders of Royalty Relationship Coaching, LLC, the authors of the 31-day devotional, “Cross-Fire: Igniting Passionate, Purposeful, and Powerful Relationships,” and guests hosts of the new television talk show, “The Marriage Circle Connection.” W.A.R. is an acronym for “We Are Royalty,” the official slogan of Royalty Relationship Coaching, LLC. Visit the website at www.RoyaltyRelationshipCoaching.com.
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