Marriage: A Lifelong Journey Devotional

What is it about human nature?

Our ability to appreciate the majestic is only rivalled by one thing: our ability to grow bored with it.

In 1961, President John Kennedy challenged the United States to put a man on the moon. Throughout that decade, the American public had an insatiable appetite for space flight. The media covered nearly every detail of NASA’s efforts, and the astronauts became national heroes. The euphoria culminated in 1969 when Neil Armstrong’s crew landed on the moon, an event witnessed by an estimated half a billion people.

But, amazingly, less than a year later, public interest in moon landings had all but evaporated. Imagine that: A feat as incredible as humans walking on the surface of the moon had become little more than a footnote on the nightly news.

It really shouldn’t surprise us. It’s human nature to lose interest in things that ought to inspire us. Like marriage. A man and a woman stand at an altar, and it seems impossible that their passion could ever fade. Yet, fast forward to the not-too-distant-future, and in all too many cases their life together has begun to drift toward the mundane.

It’s natural. But it’s all the more reason why couples must fight this tendency. Make time in your day to connect with one another. Get a babysitter and do something special. Use your imagination, but whatever you do, be proactive about reviving the fire that God used to draw you to your spouse in the first place.

Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death,
it’s jealousy. Or it’s passion. as enduring as the grave.
Love flashes like fire,
the brightest kind of flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
nor can rivers drown it.
If a man tried to buy love
with all his wealth,
his offer would be utterly scorned.

Song of Songs 8:6-7

© 2020 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Originally published at bible.com.

Jim Daly

Jim Daly is president of Focus on the Family and host of the daily broadcast, heard by more than 2.9 million listeners a week on more than 1,000 radio stations across the U.S. The show was honored as 2012 Program of the Year by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB).

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