A friend was

admiring Mrs. Smith's new diamond ring. "What a beautiful diamond!"

she said.

Mrs. Smith

smiled and said, "Thank you. It's a family heirloom, but it comes

with a curse."

The friend

said, "Oh, really? What's the curse?"

Mrs. Smith

said, "Mr. Smith!"

Then there's

the man who was about to celebrate his 3oth wedding anniversary. A friend

asked, "What are you going to do for the big occasion?"

The man replied,

"I think I'll take my wife to Australia."

His friend

said, "Wow, that's wonderful to take your wife on a nice trip like

that, but how will you top that one for your 40th wedding anniversary?"

The man said,

"I'll guess I'll go back and get her."

Making marriage

work is a real challenge, isn't it? Usually, it's both a blessing and

a curse. There is no perfect marriage, because marriages are made up of

imperfect people. However, it helps if both the husband and the wife have

a healthy view of marriage.

Some people

don't take marriage seriously. I'll never forget one girl I went to college

with. Somehow the subject of marriage came up in our group, and she said,

"I'm going to marry the first man who asks me." She was from

a small east Georgia town and may have thought she didn't have many prospects,

but her statement revealed a recipe for trouble. I wondered, "Why

would you marry just anyone ?"

Dezerrie Anne

Cortex did. In fact, she had quite a collection. This New York City 40-year-old

was arrested Wednesday for her part in an immigration scam. Seems she

has been married not once, not thrice, but 26 times! She was caught when

she applied for her 27th marriage license. She was not a blushing bride,

but a career bride who offered to marry illegal immigrants for a fee,

usually about $1,000. Sometimes she would go through with the marriage

ceremony, and sometimes not.

According to

the New York Times, a marriage would entitle her "husbands"

to green cards and other benefits, including Social Security and unemployment

insurance. Four other women were charged, and at least a dozen names appear

to have been married a suspicious number of times. Most of these who actually

married after receiving the licenses never bothered to file for divorce

before applying for new licenses.

The women charged

Wednesday had applied for licenses to marry a total of 43 men! They give

a new dimension to the term "previously married." And they face

perjury charges and offering false documents to officials charges. Their

itch to hitch and hitch and hitch could bring up to four years in prison.

They obviously

have a low view of God's institution of marriage. Marriage was God's idea,

and God created marriage for several reasons. In the book "Preparing

for Marriage," David Boehi, Brent Nelson, Jeff Schulte and Lloyd

Shadrach list three.

First, in

marriage, husbands and wives mutually complete one another. "Then

the Lord said, it is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper

suitable for him (Gen. 2:18). God said everything in his creation was

good until he saw Adam's aloneness. He saw Adam as incomplete, so he gave

Adam a wife who would complement and walk with him.

Second,

in marriage we have the opportunity to multiply a Godly legacy. "And

God said, 'be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth'" (Genesis

1:28). Every couple who is able should at some point have children who

can pass on God's Word to the next generation. They create a nurturing

home that teaches children about God.

Third, in

marriage we mirror God's image. "And God created man in His own

image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created

them (Gen. 1:27). When a husband and wife have God at the center of their

marriage, and are striving to please and honor Him in their marriage,

they will reflect His image. Maybe not everyday in the ups and downs of

relating, but overall they will reflect God.

The bottom

line is this: marriage is more than a cultural institution, an arrangement

for companionship, a business proposition, or a convenience. What is on

the line here is God's name, because God created the institution of marriage.

(Dr. David

L. Chancey is pastor, McDonough Road Baptist Church, 352 McDonough Road,

Fayetteville. The church family invites you to join them this Sunday for

Bible study at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 10:55 a.m.)

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