[Steve Myers] We had a life changing occasion in our family just the other day. Our number 2 son got married and what an occasion it was. It was a fantastic blessing to our family to welcome a new daughter-in-law into the family. And it was a really remarkable occasion. In fact, it was remarkable for me personally because I was able to conduct the ceremony. And as we went through the marriage ceremony, some interesting things struck me as I was preparing for it. And one of the things was a passage that Jesus Christ prayed.

It's in John 17:11. In John 17 we find that area of Scripture where Christ is praying to God just before the crucifixion. You might think, well, what does that have to do with marriage? And when I first read it, I thought the same thing. But the interesting thing about it is that there is a strong connection to what Christ prayed just before His death and our relationships in marriage. Notice what He says in John chapter 17. He tells God as He's talking to Him - talking to God - to keep His disciples from the evil one. Verse 17 He says then, "Set them apart for holiness," or, "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." He says, "As you sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." Then He says something interesting. He's not just talking about His disciples at that time, but He says, "My prayer is not for them alone," meaning His immediate disciples at that time, but He says, "I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message that they may all be one. My prayer for them is that they will be one just as You and I are one, Father."

So that's the connection then to marriage - is that God says we're to be one. We're to be together.

We're to be one just like the Father and Jesus Christ are one. We're to be that way in the church. We're to be that way as brothers and sisters in Christ, but how much more so then in marriage? So when you put two people together, we're to be one.

It looks kind of funny, but that's what Christ is saying. He says that, "Just as You are in Me and I am in You, so they will be in Us." So He draws this picture that in marriage, in the church, we're to be unified. We're to be together not only as followers, we're to work together in harmony, in unity, but it especially applies in marriage as well. And so when you see what Christ is saying, it's just an amazing prayer that He prayed about. God knows that the best relationships are unified and they are together.

Now as you think about that for a minute, if you go all the way back to the beginning when marriage was first ordained, when did God do that? Well, He did it at creation, when He created Adam and Eve. He told them to come together and they then were to be basing their relationship on this unity, on this love, on this harmony that they were to have. And you know God didn't stop there; He gave them something else along the path as well. Do you remember what He told Adam and Eve at the very beginning? He didn't just say, "Well, it's good enough that you two are just together." No, He didn't. He told them to fill the earth. And He told them to govern it. Or maybe saying it a different way, He gave them a mission. He gave them a job to do. He didn't say, "Well, just go ahead and be unified, be together, be married and that's good enough." That's not what He did.

You see, Jesus Christ in John 17, God, right at the very beginning, knew that the best relationships have a purpose that is beyond just being together, beyond just coming together. There is a mission that God gave Adam and Eve. There was a job. There was a purpose. That's what Christ was praying about as well. He prayed about that very same thing even though it began at creation.

As marriage begins - if you're going to be in marriage relationships, part of the blessings that come from a marriage is the assignment that God has given us. It's an objective you could say. It's a job - more than just being together, He's given every one of us who are married a job.

So, you might ask yourself, what is your mission as a married couple? What is your job? What has God given you to do?

You see, that's what Christ said we're to do. He has sent us into the world, He said in John 17. So that means we've got to be doing something. We've got to be about our Father's business. So, as a married couple, what is your job? What assignment has God given you? I mean, on a most basic thing, He sent us into the world. What are we to do? Well, we're to give. We're to share of ourselves. We're to set a godly example. We're to be the kind of couple that sets the example of what marriage is all about. So God has given all of us an assignment, a job to be what a godly family is all about, living His way.

We're to be examples of what living His way is all about. And so, are we accomplishing the mission that God has given us - each one of us? So, maybe it's something to think about, something to pray about - that as a married couple, what is the job that God wants us to do? How can we be this living example of how unity brings us together so that we are one in Christ?

I think we can better accomplish that mission when we're accomplishing the job that God has given us. And it's a job that is a remarkable job, an amazing job that can be a living example of God's way of life. So, let's think about that. Let's think about the mission that God has given each one of us as a married couple and let's be about our Father's business.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.