Rejoice in the wife of your youth

 S - Prov 5:15-23 (NASB)

Drink water from your own cistern
And [e]fresh water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be dispersed abroad,
Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be yours alone
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 As a loving hind and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
Be [f]exhilarated always with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an [g]adulteress
And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He watches all his paths.
22 His own iniquities will capture the wicked,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.
23 He will die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

O -  This is definitely a word from the Lord for me.  I have fell into the trap of not rejoicing in the love of my wife like when we first met.  I allowed myself to not be satisfied in her love, and fell to pornography and inappropiate relations with a massage therapist.   I was held with the cords of my sin in the midst of one of my lifes most challenging times in the Navy.  I am embarrassed to look back and see how out of touch with God my behavior was and yet at the time I felt fully in control.   Ultimately God loved me so much he allowed me to stumble and stay down so that my life would not be destroyed but that it might be pruned and replanted in a new season to once again grow and be fruitful.

A -  I have lived the application of this Proverb.   The lesson for the future is to let the fountain or abundance of life be blessed and I need to rejoice in the wife that I first fell in love with 24 years ago.   Pastor Larry and the Lord helped reveal to both Abby and I how are feelings and the truth of when we first met are true today still.  I must grasp onto those feelings and move on from the past hurts in our marriage.  I must allow God to prune the dead and unhealthy branches and fertilize with forgive dung the life of our marriage. 

P -Dear heavenly father, thank you so much for this timely word, may it be sealed to my heart.    I pray Lord that you would continue to prune and fertilize my marriage so we can grow in love with you and each other in the years ahead of us.  I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.