What’s the Secret to a Long Marriage?

Bill and Cary, Stephanie and Tom, and Jennifer and Trent were all visiting Expo together as there were only 10 days left before EXPO 2020 closed.  They were quite an entourage; 3 couples and 2 children.  They had visited several pavilions and had been at Expo for many hours.  The sun had set, and the atmosphere turned more festive as the colored lights came on and music was streaming.  Everyone was getting hungry, so they decided to head to a food court.  As some were ordering food the others started to look for a place to sit.  In some ways they felt like vultures waiting to sweep down as soon as people were done eating to claim their table!  Trent found a small area of one table to sit the kids so they could begin eating.  Soon the table emptied out except for three girls from Bosnia.  Active, eating children helped break the ice and a conversation began.  Bill and Cary were sitting directly across from the girls.  The conversation flowed from introductions, to what the girls had studied in university, to where everyone was from.  The girls were all 25 years old and had jobs in design.  The conversation shifted to families and then marriage.  Bill made a comment that he and Cary had been married for almost 40 years.

“So, what is the secret to a long marriage?” Emina asked.

“We are followers of Christ, and the answer to your question is rather long,” begin Bill.  “You remember the story of Adam and Eve and how they disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the tree that He had instructed them not to eat.  At that point they realized that they had done wrong and were naked. They tried to make clothes out of leaves to cover their shame.  God took an animal and killed it to make clothes that would cover them.  That was the beginning of doing sacrifices to cover the bad works that people did.  Fast forward to the prophet Yahyah (John the Baptist).  When he saw Jesus the Messiah, he said ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ 

“The Christ was perfect,” Bill continued. “He did many wonderful things, but there were some leaders who did not like Him and did not believe that He was the Messiah.  They conspired against him and had Him sentenced to death. Christ allowed them to kill Him.  He took all our bad works upon Himself and laid down his life for us.  His blood covered our bad works, but you know what?  He did not stay dead.  He came back to life.  He did that for me.  He paid the debt for my bad works.  He shed His blood to cover my shame.  I just needed to accept His payment.  We both have done this,” Bill gestured to Cary.

“The key to a long marriage is forgiveness.  After what Christ did for me and forgave my debt, how can I not forgive Cary?”

Bill encouraged the Emina, Anisa, and Selma to download the Bible app on their phones.  The rest of the group showed them what the app looked like in the App store.  Selma said she had downloaded it before when she was in Italy.  Instagram contacts were exchanged, and the girls left.  The three couples were encouraged that such a wonderful conversation was started so naturally and are praying for the three girls who heard the great new that night!

Prayer Requests

• Pray for Emina, Anisa, and Selma to ponder the Great News that was shared with them. Ask specifically that they would download the Bible and begin reading the Gospel of Luke.

• Pray for the multitude of seeds that have been sown during EXPO 2020 to take root and flourish!