Husbands, picture this: you are 19 years old. You are in the prime of your youth. You’ve got a driver’s license, a girlfriend and a lifetime’s worth of dreams. Your whole life is ahead of you. But you haven’t seen your girlfriend in 9 months. Her picture is in your wallet and it is so worn you can barely see it any more. It is right next to your driver’s license which is absolutely useless to you. Your lifetime’s worth of dreams are on hold. Right now you’re grateful for each and every day.
Welcome to Iraq. You’d give anything not to be here. You are going out on patrol. You’ve been on patrol before, but today’s different, and that’s why there’s a knot in your gut and an icy fear in your heart.
Today is different because the squad leader has appointed you to be the “point man.” In essence, you’re the leader. Everyone else will fall in behind you.
As you move down the street the survival of those seven men behind you depend on your ability to lead. How you handle every doorway, every corner is crucial. Is that object ahead just garbage and debris, or is it an IED? Your judgment may determine whether they live or die.
Guys, whether we realize it or not, that’s the role we play as a husband and a father. And you better believe the threat against your family is just as real.
This is just a glimpse of one of the things we’ll be talking about Sunday, as we take a first look at one of the most quoted passages in the Bible on marriage, but it is also one of the most misunderstood- Ephesians 5:22-33.