“Where To From Here?”
Perhaps the moral to this story is “Don’t propose marriage while you’re high”?
Joshua Mason took his girlfriend, Katie Davis, on a hike. When they reached their destination of Jasper Peak in Colorado at an elevation of nearly 13,000 feet he popped the question. The story doesn’t say, but we assume she said “Yes”.
As they came down from the peak, darkness overtook them and they were lost. By the time a hiker found them, they were dehydrated and showing signs of altitude sickness. He took the couple to his tent where he shared water, food, and warmth until rescuers arrived the next day.
Katie and Joshua, both in their late 20s, are OK now, and didn’t need medical treatment. But you and I know they were both grateful for that unidentified hiker who came to their rescue.
The days of engagement and “the honeymoon period” can be an emotional high; in fact that’s how it should be. If the couple isn’t enthralled with one another, that could be cause for concern. But how does a couple descend? That’s where the trouble sometimes shows up.
The wise man gave advice to husbands in Proverbs 5. “Drink water from your own cisterns, and running water from your own well” (verse 15) reminds young husbands not to be attracted to women other than the bride he chose. In verses 19 and 20 he goes on: “… always be enraptured with her love. For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman?” Marital fidelity is the concept that must be learned, or the couple will become lost in their descent.
Young wives also need guidance. Paul wrote that the older women of the churches should “admonish the young women to love their husbands” (Titus 2:4). Such advice is not normally needed in the early days of marriage. But when the couple is coming down from their honeymoon high, such counsel is vital.
The Bible has much to say about God’s ideals for marriages. Hebrews 13:4 is a good summary statement: “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” We may wink at “an affair”, “a rendezvous”, or “a fling”, but God certainly doesn’t. Absolute faithfulness is what He expects.
Marriage is a gift from God, and we do well to allow Him to teach us how to nurture this relationship. And by all means we must heed the words of God’s Son: “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6).
Timothy D. Hall