Someone

suggested that Adam and Eve had a great marriage.

Adam

couldn't bring up his mother's cooking, and Eve couldn't

talk about the man she should have married.

This

marriage business does get complicated sometimes. I heard

about a man named Bob who went over to visit Joe and was

amazed at how well Joe treated his wife. He often told

her how attractive she was, complimented her on her

cooking and showered her with hugs and kisses.

"Gee

whiz," Bob remarked later, "you really make a

big fuss over your wife."

"I

started to appreciate her more about six months

ago," Joe said. "It has revived our marriage,

and we couldn't be happier."

Inspired,

Bob hurried home, hugged his wife and told her how much

he loved her, and said he wanted to hear all about her

day. But she burst into tears.

"Honey,

what's the matter?" asked Bob.

"This

has been the worst day," she replied. "This

morning Billy fell off his bike and hurt his ankle, then

the washing machine broke. Now, to top it off, you come

home drunk!"

As I said,

this marriage business gets complicated. In marriage we

have the wonderful opportunity of taking two unique

persons from two diverse backgrounds and blending our

lives together to build a marriage that prospers and

grows. Sometimes it helps to review God's design for

marriage found in Genesis chapters one and two.

When God

created the first couple, He designed their relationship

to be a sacred union.

God brings people together in His perfect will and God's

will should be the only basis for marriage. God designed

marriage to be an exclusive union. We are to

"leave and cleave" and forsake all others. God

designed marriage to be a permanent union of one

man and one woman freely and totally committed to God and

to each other for life. And marriage is to be an intimate

union of husband and wife coming together as true

partners in the marriage.

Husbands

and wives are incomplete without each other. The Bible

says that man wanted someone comparable to him. So God

made Adam fall into a deep sleep and removed a portion of

man's rib. Out of that rib he shaped Eve and gave her to

Adam. Adam awoke and there was Eve, "bone of my bone

and flesh of my flesh, woman who was taken out of

man." He was saying, here is someone I can related

to, someone I can be companions and partners with. I'm

thankful God created Adam and Eve, and that God designed

marriage as part of his plan when he created the divine

institution of the family.

However,

someone suggested that not only was Eve created to

complement man and give him companionship, but also that

Adam needed all the help he could get. Have you seen the

"Top Ten Reasons Eve Was Created?"

10) God was

worried that Adam would frequently become lost in the

garden because he would not ask for directions.

9) God knew

that one day Adam would require someone to locate and

hand him the remote.

8) God knew

Adam would never go out and buy himself a new fig leaf

when his wore out and would therefore need Eve to buy one

for him.

7) God knew

Adam would never be able to make a doctor, dentist or

haircut appointment for himself.

6) God knew

Adam would never remember which night to put the garbage

on the curb.

5) God knew

if the world was to be populated, men would never be able

to handle the pain and discomfort of childbearing.

4) As the

keeper of the Garden, Adam would never remember where he

left his tools.

3)

Apparently, Adam needed someone to blame his troubles on

when God caught him hiding in the garden.

2) As the

Bible says, it is not good for man to be alone!

1) When God

finished the creation of Adam, He stepped back, scratched

his head, and said, "I can do better that

that!"