Worship the Lord. Make Love to Your Spouse.

I happen to be in the grueling time of life of raising children.

Those of you who find yourself in that place know what I’m talking about, don’t you?

It’s like the calendar has been hijacked, and sleep is a commodity no one can afford.

Even if you aren’t raising kids, my guess is that your life too spills over with an excess of demands and distractions.

It’s the American way, after all.

Our society is not too bent on slowing down.  A lot — and I mean a lot — vies for our attention.

Stuff beeps and buzzes at us 24/7.  Stores and email programs and apps and gas stations and appliances all put a high emphasis on convenience, as if convenience is an easy fix to all that ails our busy lives.

Ironically, as we schlep through drive-thrus and quick lanes and speedy checkouts, there’s a subtle sense that  maybe “convenience” has been more of our un-doing than our solution.

Yet even in the midst of all this, the Lord still longs for us.

He longs for us to grow in relationship with Him.  Longs for us to understand what His heart and Word mean in our lives, our marriages, our homes, our communities.

I don’t know about you, but I must find the Lord amidst the chaos and noise — instead of waiting for the busyness to subside.  Yes, quiet time with the Lord is necessary and holy; but no more so than pressing against His chest moment-by-moment within the daily grind.

Because the daily grind is infused with His grace and blessings, if only we will open our eyes to such a radical possibility.

It is not unusual for me to receive emails or comments from readers, particularly wives, whose desire for intimacy with their husbands has been shredded by the daily demands of life.

They are tired.

And frustrated.

And overwhelmed.

And in that depletion, it seems logical that sex with their husbands is a non-essential that can be relegated to the back-burner (which loosely translates to “let’s get these kids raised and maybe someday we’ll have some energy for us.”)

I’m not saying that exhaustion and the responsibilities of life are not legitimate experiences.  Been there, done that.  (Still there often, in fact).   I know.

And certainly a big part of a couple’s best chance at successfully dealing with the onslaught of life’s commotion is that they each do more than their fair share.  If you are reading this and you are feeling some slight conviction that you have gotten lazy in this regard, then my prayer is you receive it as a Holy Spirit love tap to get off the bench a bit more.

As valuable as shared partnership is in keeping life from spinning out of control, I also think that recognizing — and welcoming — God’s presence in your marriage is exceedingly beneficial.

It’s not just about surviving demanding life experiences; it’s about believing wholeheartedly that marriage is a place to glorify the Lord no matter the season we are in.

When it comes to sex, I wonder what it will take for you to see this as a place of worship in your marriage — rather than a place of obligation or duty?

Sex as worship?  Have I lost my mind?

Hardly.

I honestly believe making love is indeed one of the finest forms of worship in a marriage.

When you make love with your spouse, you are intentionally and purposefully agreeing with God that sex is indeed right and sacred and worth it.

You accept His gift of sex while simultaneously giving it in the context of love and faithfulness.

That sounds a lot like prayer or Christian service or worshipping the Lord in song.   You receive Him so that you can enthusiastically and reverently give it all away.

Obviously, when both a husband and a wife grasp this approach, the significance of making love is profound.

There are many, many ways to worship in a marriage.  We’d be reckless to not embrace sex as one of those ways.

Copyright 2012, Julie Sibert. Intimacy in Marriage Blog. Links may be monetized.

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