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As a young man, I remember thumbing through a magazine and being struck by some photos of elderly married couples. These were wonderfully done black and white photos depicting several smiling and embracing, working couples in a country setting. So what was so profound and provocative about these photos that they would impact a young man so much; that their images would be indelibly etched into his soul? To better understand my thought processes and subsequent ‘revelation’ you first must know that I was newly married with a young and beautiful wife. I was, you might say, in the height of my Testosterone years. I loved my wife’s beauty, her youthful firmness and taught slender arms and legs. But I had this very quiet inner fear, that one day my beautiful wife would be fat and saggy. At the present time her worth was very much measured by her looks. Now don’t get me wrong, I loved her very much. But it’s just that I valued her beauty so much, I could not imagine enjoying her without her continuing to have those same attributes. The photos, They were farmers, somewhere in the mountains of Russia, far from television, or any other type of media. Far from radios or cities or any idea that they were experiencing anything but God’s norm. These were happy, loving , embracing and exceedingly affectionate- but very ugly elderly people; who obviously did not suffer decay in their relationships equal to the ravages time had affected their bodies. Their countenances said that they experienced none of the problems with relationship that I feared might come upon my own heart as I might grow tired of my ‘old lady’. After thinking about these thing, I wanted what they had. I wanted to love and value my wife till the day I died. I wanted to see her having just as much worth while being old and saggy as when she was firm and youthful. I think it is likely that these folks had difficult times the same as all people do. I think their village had their share of murder, jealousy and adultery. But I imagine that the rates of these things were far lower than our western “civilization”. I would be willing to bet that there were a few arranged marriages; where the young women had little to say about who she was to marry. But here they were, the women acting as if they were married to Clark Gable and the men to Rachel Welch. Somehow these couple managed beautiful and thriving marriages. It dawned on me. ‘If I continued in my Testosterone driven thought processes, I would never learn to have what they had obtained’. This was a major and profound revelation about myself. I had to make a choice; Remain in animal like stupidity, or come to a genuine humanity. where I see people, especially my wife, as God sees them, past the skin. You should know, I had a good excuse for thinking like an animal; I was raised a degenerate and degeneracy was continually exampled to me my entire life. But again, my choice had come down to this; relax and let life flow; I am what I am. Besides it’s much too hard to change. Or the alternative, as the Bible say’s, “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me”, and let God renew my mind ( Rom.12:1 ) If you have read Romans 12:1 and 2 , you will see that it say’s that our mind might be transformed. It say’s nothing about our ‘bodies’ being transformed (until 1 Cor.15- At the resurrection of the dead!) This presented a huge problem. In fact it didn’t seem quite fair; God has demanded so much of a Christian, but the cravings of his body are not in the least diminished at conversion! We are stuck with a similar body as that of a Lowland Gorilla, which, by the way, is very much unconcerned with morals. So, what are we to do? Our bodies are our enemies. The world and it’s philosophy are our enemy’s. Then there is pseudo Christianity; a vast congregation of half converts; swearing with all their hearts they love God, but bearing no appreciable difference from the world around them. They dress the same. Talk the same. Watch and listen to the same things as the world. Yet say, “By god, I am on the way to heaven”. The difference for me is that, as I read the scriptures; I do not , as a believer ‘have’ a choice. If I am to be “the genuine article”, “A Christian”; Then I must somehow become holy. or die in the trying. But at all costs not abandon that which I know is required of me. It came down to this; am I going to willingly require growth in my mind, corresponding to the unwilling change of my wife’s and my circumstances? Again, based on my commitment to God, I didn’t have a choice. Well it’s been over three decades since I first saw those photos; And I am happy to say ‘That which I feared has not come upon me’! Somehow the process of sanctification has worked. I can truly say, though my wife has changed a little, my love for her has increased with the years. And her worth is far above any women I have ever known; including her young self! As for the future, I have great hope that I will continue to grow in my mind; and I am confident that when my wife resembles those old folks in the photos, the sanctification process will continue to provide us with a freedom I hoped about as a young man. So where is your mind? Are your values God’s values? Is that which is important to you something that has eternal significance? Or are you still chasing the end of a rainbow; and until you find it, you are resolved to be miserable. If you claim to be a Christian, choose which you’ll have, either the rainbow or the genuine substance of faith shown in God’s word. Which clearly say’s, “ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways”. One more note: I still, and I think I will always appreciate beauty. But in terms of worth; I’ll take a wonderful ripened strawberry over a rose any day. But this raises one more question: I wonder if my wife has gone through the same process? I certainly hope so.... my midriff isn’t what it used to be. Proverbs 2.10-11 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
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