All tagged respect
Do you only commit a portion of yourself before God when He asks something of you? Do you use such language as "I will but", or, "just let me do this first", or perhaps you ask "what about this?" Do you place certain conditions on when, or whether, you will follow God's will for you? Maybe it's time we should just respond "here I am."
Marriage, it is more than a simple ceremony, it is a Holy covenant that was first established between Adam and Eve in Genesis, continues throughout scripture as the model for all men and women to follow, and is the same covenant by which we see Jesus coming to claim His Church in the book of Revelation. When we marry we are entering into this covenant before God, and for us it is meant to be a lifelong promise of love, respect, and the creation of a new creature as we become one flesh. Each time we witness a marriage it is not only the establishment of a promise between those two people, but a reminder to all of us who have made this pledge, of the covenant we entered into with our own spouses. For every Christian it is also a very real reminder of the coming Christ. How healthy are our marriages? How true are we to our covenant?
When we speak with Jesus Christ, and pray to our Heavenly Father in His name, do we keep in mind who Jesus truly is? As the years of our faith go by, and we come to know Him as friend through thousands upon thousands of prayers, it is easy to lose sight of the magnificence, and dominion of Christ; replacing His kingship with an air of proforma, and familiarity. This can lead us to approach Him as if we were His equal, and thus, we should be able to make demands of Him. When treating Him in this way we are attempting to increase who we are, and diminish who He is, but lest we forget our place in this relationship we need to remind ourselves often of the respect and glory He deserves from us, and all that He is, and has done for us.