A few weeks ago we touched upon the difficult topic of adultery in the book of Proverbs. As I was preparing the sermon I expected to read the many and varied warnings that are contained in Proverbs 5-7. What I did not expect was the vivid encouragement to enjoy intimacy with your spouse.

But this encouragement makes sense. By its very nature adultery is the search for intimacy in anything other than your spouse. Again this does not just mean physical intimacy with another person. It could be the emotional attachment by one spouse to the detriment of the other spouse for something else: work, a hobby, children. So much so that when retirement comes, the children grow up and move away and the hobby no longer fulfils, the marriage breakdowns for lack of intimacy and emotional engagement.

A solution that Proverbs, and other parts of the Wisdom books (ie Song of Solomon), provide is to enjoy intimacy with the spouse of your youth.

So a question for the married couples in our church: how is the intimacy in your marriage going? Is it growing? Could it be worked on? Has it stalled?

Whether it’s good or could be better, there is hope for things to grow. First, in a couple of weeks the book ‘Sex, Romance and the Glory of God’ by CJ Mahaney will be available for purchase in the SLE bookstall. I have personally found this book to be a helpful, thoughtful, biblical, and gracious encouragement to grow my relationship under the Lordship of Christ. It is certainly a book for couples only, so keep an eye out for it in the bookstall in the coming weeks.

Second, the BC3 (Brisbane Chinese Church Connection) Network will be holding a Marriage Refresh half-day session on June 16th. It will be held at the Brisbane Chinese Alliance Church in Rochedale (983 Rochedale Road, Rochedale), the cost is $20/couple and this includes child-minding. Sydney pastor Pete Ko and his wife Karen will be flown up to lead the session and the goal of the morning is to ‘help married couples re-examine and refresh their marriage relationship under Christ.’ The day runs from 8:45am to 12:30pm and couples are strongly encouraged to arrange your own date-lunch or dinner afterwards to give you more time to process the morning’s teaching. Keep an eye on www.thebc3.net for further details and registration details.

Ultimately ongoing intimacy grows marriages. Growing and strong marriages mean strong families. And strong families are a foundation of our church and society. So how is your marriage going?