With This Ring

This past weekend my husband and I had the pleasure to attend a co-worker's (Scott's) wedding. It was a touching ceremony. The pastor presiding over them had some very beautiful words to share with the couple and to those in attendance.

He reminded us of how special love is. Love is tender and precious. It is something that we need to protect and cherish. The part that moved me the most was when they exchanged rings. The pastor explained the significance of the rings in a way I hadn't hear before.

We all know that the circle of the ring represents our infinity love for one another. It's put on the left finger because it's closet to our heart. The ring is also a outward showing that we are promised to someone. But lets consider how the ring came into existence. The ring started off as unrefined gold. The gold was put through extreme pressure and heat so it could be molded. It was shaped and stretched into a perfect circle glistening and refined. Just as the ring has gone through this process so will your marriage. There will be times when trials come and you will be tested. It will be difficult but in the end you will be refined.  

Those words are so true. There will be trying times in the marriage and refinement will come. However the pastor did leave out an important detail. Christ. The couple getting married are not Christians so that may have been why. But Christ needs to be in the center. He is the one that refines you as individuals and as a couple. Without Him, situations and circumstances can seem bleak and unconquerable. He is the one that provides the strength, endurance and grace.

The ring analogy is true for everyone not just for married couple. Every ring goes through the same process. Extreme heat, pressure, stretching and molding. It's necessary. It's the only way to purify and remove the blemishes. So is the case with us. We want to be like Christ. But we are fallen creatures nowhere near like Christ. Once we have been accepted Christ and repented of our sins then the work can begin. It is painful, but it's only temporary. Abundant joy will follow.

In the end you will be a beautifully refined example of Christ.

"These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:7