Romance That Never Runs Out

William Jennings Bryan, the great American orator and defender of the faith, was at one point in his midlife having his portrait painted. The artist, in helping to make Bryan “picture-perfect” inquired of him, “Sir, why do you wear your hair over your ears like that?” William Jennings Bryan replied, “Actually, there is a romance connected with it. When I first pursued Mrs. Bryan, she declined my every invitation.

“Later a close confidant of hers whispered to me that it was not that she did not like me but that there was something about the way my ears stick out that turned her off. I decided then and there to remedy the situation. So as to remove the obstacle of our relationship, I grew my hair long enough to cover my offending parts.”

“That was a long time ago and fashions have changed, sir”, the artist responded. “Would you consider cutting your hair now?” “Absolutely not,” said the statesman-orator, “I am still pursuing my romance with Mrs. Bryan.”

True romance never runs out. An advertisement in the Personal section of a local newspaper was headlined “Husband for Sale.” The text below read, “Age 52, in good health. Out or sorts most of the time. No longer verbalizes ‘I love you’. Is only rarely touching and tender. Asking price is 2 cents. Note: Price negotiable!”

According to the wife who placed that message in the newspaper, her husband is not worth even two cents. We chuckle at such advertisement; then we hope for all the world that it really is just a joke. William Jennings Bryan was aware that when romance leaves a marriage, holy wedlock becomes holy deadlock. Something bad has happened to that relationship.

The same is true with our relationship with our Maker. It can deteriorate to the place where it is virtually worthless. We need constant reminders that fashions come and go, times and circumstances change, but our romance with God through Christ must not be allowed to fluctuate. We were made for intimacy with Him, and it is always in our best interests to deal with any part of our lives that offends Him.

In the sacrifice of His Son, God made it possible for us to cover our offending parts. No relationship on earth will ever substitute for this relationship He makes possible. None will ever take its place. Indeed, no relationship on earth will ever be truly right without our intimate connection with God first being in place.

How can I say this with such certainty? First, because the Bible says it is so. Our relationship with God is at the same time the foundation and the model for our relationship with one another. Second, I can testify to this point because of a wonderful personal experience. Barbara (Robert Leslie Holmes’ wife) and I were not committed to Christ when we married. Baptized as children, we were brought up in church but we somehow missed understanding the reality of God’s redeeming grace through Christ. We were married, in the church and had a good and loving relationship from the beginning.

When we married, we were committed to each other for life. We were still not Christians, however. It was sometime after our second wedding anniversary that we each, at separate times, came to faith in Christ. When Christ entered our lives individually and when He entered our lives together, we found a level of closeness and love for one another that we had no idea existed before. This romance of ours, after over thirty-three years of marriage, is stronger than ever, and we agree that it is because God is at the centre of it.

That is not to say that making a commitment with Christ is a Pollyanna recipe for a good marriage nor that all marital problems somehow float away just because a couple commit their way to Christ. It does mean that when Christ is at the centre of a marriage, the issues and concerns that are a normal part of married life are seen from a different perspective.

When Christ is at the centre there is a renewed sense of commitment to working through difficulties in a way that is positive and constructive for both the husband and the wife. The family that prays together really does stay together. The Christian principles that make for better marriages are true for other relationships as well.

*** Written By Robert Leslie Holmes ***

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