the first love song

"This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Genesis 2:23-25

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Some say jokingly that this was the first R&B love song recorded in human history. Genesis 2 depicts the time when God made Adam and found that he was unfit to be alone.

So what did God do? God chose to give man, woman - right out of his flesh.

We should praise and thank God for this truth because .. let's face it - men need woman. We all love our mama's and if you're married, we love (or should love) our wives.

The latter was what struck me the most when I read and meditated on this passage. Have I loved my wife like that? To the point of breaking out in song and rejoicing over her? I have been married for a little over a year now and am constantly reminded of how I lack so much in loving my wife well.. 

Men are so good at giving excuses and I am no exception. 

I'm too busy. I'm too tired. She's being mean. She's being unreasonable. The baby needs our love, etc etc.

But I need to love my wife, and love her well. God gave her to me as a gift and I need to cherish her, protect her, love her - like Christ loved the church.

We all know what happens in a chapter later when sin enters the picture and distorts everything. And the very moment Adam can lovingly protect his wife from the serpent's schemes - he is passive and does nothing. And, he throws her under the bus and accuses her of the wrong that has befallen mankind. We see this sin pattern in Abraham and also in Isaac where they both deny the true identity of their wives as their own.

Men - let's love our wives well. Remember the days of your first dates and first kisses and hugs, etc and rekindle that love for her. But also know that our love grows and matures over time - so while holding her hand doesn't give off the electricity it once did, it should off waves of thankfulness, hard-fought perseverance and consistent love.