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Lentils, according to the New International Version, are the prime ingredient in that
"mess of pottage" for which Esau sold his birthright in the King James. Jacob was
evidently an opportunistic soul. It has been observed, however, that you cannot cheat
an honest man. Jacob got his pottage repaid when Laban tricked him into marrying
Leah instead of Rachel. He had to wait seven years for the privilege, too. Then he had
to work another seven for the girl he wanted in the first place.
I can sympathize with that. My wife is one of those wonderful souls to whom
promptness is not particularly easy - the "chronologically impaired," as the politically
correct might say. Some men can say that they always wait for their wives, but how
many can say that their wife was late for their wedding? (She says half an hour, I say
an hour. It depends on what you mean by "on time.") The organist, as I recall, played
"Get Me to the Church On Time" - in the manner of a Bach fugue.
But she was well worth the wait! Of all my earthly blessings, she is the chief and
uppermost. "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the
LORD."'"
I write this while waiting around at a wedding rehearsal. My wife's brother Tom is
getting married to Tracy; two lovely Christian people beginning a life together. Tom
became a Christian largely through the efforts of his first wife, Suzanne, who died a few
years ago. Their marriage reminds me how much our society despises that institution.
"Happily Married" is rarely seen on television; it's usually portrayed as the introduction
to adultery. We dignify adultery by calling it an "affair." We view marriage as a
compound of one boob, one bimbo, one playboy and one playgirl, making in all two.
We see this on television and think nothing of it. But marriage not only requires hard
work to make it successful; it requires imagination. Imagination of what might be;
imagination of what ought to be. "We take captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ," says the Scripture. So I ask you: when you look at your wife, what do you
see? Do you see the ball and chain shackling you down, or do you see the lady love of
your life lifting you up? Sometimes romance is more imagination than makeup.
Discipline your mind to see with the Lord's eye; see the woman who loves you and is
therefore beautiful.
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