Marriage Retreat = Revival?

Back in January we had a wonderful marriage retreat. We laughed and learned a lot, and we renewed our vows to the love of our lives. As I sit here writing this article, I am preparing to perform the wedding ceremony for our youngest daughter. For the second time, when the question is asked, "who gives this woman to be married", I will be responding, "Her mother and I." Marriage is the most intimate of all relationships. So much so, it is used of God to illustrate our relationship to Him, because the Bible describes the church as the Bride and Christ as the Bride Groom (see Eph.5:25-33; Rev.19:7-8; Rev.21:9).

As I think about this, it occurs to me that we, the church--the Bride of Christ, need a marriage retreat. In other words, we need revival. Revival is all about renewal. It's about a renewed conviction of sin and a renewed zeal to obey God as we return to our first love (Rev.2:5).

We need to renew our commitment to God and vow to spend intimate time with Him daily. I've always said that you'll never get to know God very well by just staring at the back of someone's head once a week as the pastor preaches a message. If you want to know God in a more intimate way, you have to spend quality time with Him. And in order to spend quality time with Him, you must enter into His presence. And to enter into His presence, you must be holy because His holiness demands it.

But far too many Christians don't want to pay the price. Intimacy with God requires purity. It requires holiness. We hide nothing in intimacy. Which brings us back to the marriage. God used the picture of marriage to illustrate our relationship with Him. But far too many Christians just want to date God rather than enter into that holy commitment with God. We want the thrills of dating God rather than enter into that holy commitment, because the ring of commitment requires holiness in our lives, which of course, will produce intimacy with Christ. And out of that intimacy will come revival.

Understand this: No true revival has ever occured simply because people sought revival. Revival comes when we seek HIM! God is tired of having long distance relationships with His people. He really wants to have a close, intimate relationship with you and me. He wants to invade our homes and church with His abiding presence in a way that will make every visitor begin to weep with wonder and worship the moment they enter. Begin your marriage retreat with God with an open Bible in your prayer closet today!

In Christ,

Bro. Royce