When Is A Young Man Ready For Marriage

To take the question of today, which was partially answered on yesterday, that question being when is a young man ready for marriage? We dealt with that when we dealt with the four p's again priest profit, provider, protector. We recognize that a man has oh sorry, there we go, recognize that a man has an obligation to operate in these four categories, the category of priestit provider, protector. So in part we answered the question on last night when we looked at what those obligations and responsibilities are. A young man is ready to be married when he is ready to be a priest, profit provider and protector and not before. Well I get this often, okay, but what about what age? First, let's examine where that question comes from. The reason we ask that question is because of conditioning. Now we've been conditioned by the statists to think about life in certain cycles, that you do things at certain times and at certain ages. Nowhere is this conditioning more complete and more effective than in our school system. And so what we learn is you do this grade at this age, you do that grade at that age. Eventually you finish up at this age and you're done. You can get driver's license when you're sixteen, you can get a whatever. When you're eighteen, you can drink alcohol. When you're twenty one, you can. So statism has conditioned us to be ready to do certain things at certain ages, simply because somebody says that's the age at which you can do it. I can't say amen. You ought to say ops, okay, we've been completely and utterly conditioned. You know, one of things, I love. It just blesses me. There are a few things that blesses me more. When you know, you run across a homeschool kid and you ask them what grade they're in, and they look at mom and dad because they have no idea. That's just a beautiful thing. You ask a homeschool kid what grade they're in, and they know their parents are probably in sin. That was a joke. It's people out there repenting in sackcloth and ashes already. But when you get my point, we've been conditioned. Someone has told us, and so what we really want, you know, we hear about this, we hear about this different perspective on marriage, and what we really want, what our consciences really yearn for, is for somebody to give us a number, because everything else that we do is governed by a number. You can do this at twelve, You can do this at eighteen, You can do this at twenty one, You can do this at whatever age. The scriptures do not give us an answer to that question as it relates to marriage. A man is ready to be married when he meets those qualifications, when he is prepared to be a priest, profit, provider, and protector. I have met young men at eighteen who are ready to do this. I have met young men at thirty who are nowhere close. Okay, is not about a number. Is he ready to be priest and represent his family before God? That depends on his relationship with God, That depends on his walk with God. Is he ready to be a prophet and represent God before his people? That depends on his grasp on the word of God, his grasp on doctrine, his grasp on theology. Is he ready to communicate those things at the helm of a family, at a household wh he's the leader. There's no number. Is he ready to be a provider? Does he have a work ethic? Does he have a job? Has he demonstrated a willingness to do whatever it takes to meet the needs of those for whom he is responsible. That's the question. There's no number. Is he ready to be a protector? Is he a man of personal strength? Is he wise and not a fool? Is he a man of courage? Does he have the those things in place? When those things are in place in a young man's life, he is ready to take a wife? There is no number for that. Amen, there's no number for that. Okay. And here's the other answer. Usually the answer to the question when is a young man ready, probably a little bit sooner than you think. Usually that's the answer, Probably a little bit sooner than you think. Because here's what I know. I said this on yesterday. I grew up saw in Los Angeles, but mostly when I got married, Mostly when I got married. There's a lot of growing up that takes place when a young man gets married. So there are some of these things that we will never see to our satisfaction because of the lynns through which we view our sons. So we have to ask these questions objectively. But on the other side of the equation, there's another issue, and that is what I want to address. On one side of the equation, you have individuals who air on the side of not looking at those requirements, and maybe you look at a number. Here a prime example, you graduate from college, you get married. It used to be by the way you went back fifty years ago, you graduate from high school, you get married. That old saying, you married your high school sweetheart. The reason that saying was developed was because, again, fifty years ago, it was the norm people would get out of high school and as soon as they graduated from high school finished their formal education. Because back then, fifty years ago, they understood that the college was not for everybody. Amen. Nowadays we don't understand that because we have been marketed to effectively, and we believe that everybody's supposed to go to college. Not everybody. Everybody is beyond everybody, okay. And they've even invented majors at university level. They have, absolutely, I'm not that's not an exaggeration. They have invented majors at the university level just to make a market for everybody to go to college. People who have absolutely no business in college and no need for college can go to college, for example, and you know, get whatever kind of degree just completely made up in order to market to us. Okay, So because of that we now think about college the way people used to think about high school. Why is that important? Well, used to be you finish your formal education high school, you got married. That was the deadline, that was the goal line. That was the mark that everybody looked at. When you get married. You finished high school, you get married, and there people would get married like the next weekend after graduation. Now it's college. You finish college, you get married. By the way, we are slowly moving that up because to graduate school, you finish graduate school, then you get married. All right, But notice what we've done. There's an artificial marker that we've set that It has absolutely nothing to do with biblical readiness. Whether it's a high school marker, a college marker, or a graduate school marker. Is high school preparing people for marriage? No, So the fact that you finished high school does not mean you're ready to be married. It's an artificial marker. Is college preparing people for marriage? Absolutely not. So does graduating from college mean that you're ready to be married. No, it's an artificial marker. And so on and so forth, with graduate school or whatever we want to put out there as the artificial marker. So on one side, of the equation. We have people who are looking toward marriage because of an artificial marker and not taking into account the biblical requirements. There is another side of the equation, though, and that's a group of individuals who are pushing marriage back as far as they possibly can and believe that they have biblical warrant to do so. And that's what I want to look at today, because this is happening, people pushing it back as far as they can and believing that they have biblical warrant to do so. Listen to this from Martin Luther. Some thoughtful people have turned their own experience into a fine and noble proverb and have said early to rise early to take a wife, a man will not regret throughout his life. Why well, this mode of life makes for people who keep a healthy body, a good conscience, possessions, honor, and friends. By the way, research throughout the years has demonstrated every one of those things to be true. The happiest, healthiest, most satisfied, well balanced people in the world are people who are married. Amen. Pure myth. The idea out there of the lone wolf single who actually really has the good life, that's pure myth. Created by television. Okay, doesn't exist, doesn't exist. But listen to this from al Molar again, other side of the equation. We go from Luther to Molar, travel several hundred years, and now listen to what Molar has to say. A great deal of cultural capital is required in order to encourage young men to marry and men of all ages to fulfill responsibilities as husbands and fathers. The normative picture of the good life for men, at least as presented in the dominant media culture, does not include the comprehensive responsibilities of fatherhood. When men are not stigmatized for failure to be faithful as husbands and fathers, young men will take marriage and parenthood with little significance, as many will avoid marriage and fatherhood altogether, completely different statement from a completely different era. He says, a great deal of cultural capital is required to encourage young men to marry because young men do not see marriage as a worthy or worthwhile goal. It is not something that young men are interested in. It does not fit the picture that we've painted of the good life, the fulfilling life for a young man. And again in the church, there are arguments that people have used to justify this idea of pushing marriage back as far as they possibly can. There are three I have named them just from our own purposes, the pious argument, number two, the textual argument, and number three the theological argument. Let's look at these in turn. First, there's the pious argument. What's the pious argument. I alluded to it on yesterday. The pious argument is, we must do ministry first. We must do ministry first. There's some important ministry work out there that needs to be done before you start thinking about marriage. You must do ministry first. You have an opportunity to do ministry. Go and do that. Where does this pious argument come from? First Corinthians seven thirty two to thirty five. If you have your Bible, as many of these come from First Corinthians, Chapter seven, firse Corinthians seven thirty two to thirty five, you'll open there. Let me get first print in seven. I'll hear from myself or Strenthien seven. I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife. Now when he says worldly things here. It's not using worldly in the negative sinful sense, because pleasing your wife is not something that Paul considers sinful, So that's not what he's talking about there. And his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit, but the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord. So this is the text that is relied upon for the pious argument that somehow it is more pious, it is more godly to forego marriage. It is more godly to extend your singleness as long as you possibly can, so that you can have this undivided devotion to the Lord. Because after all, the single person is devoted to the Lord, committed to the Lord, mind occupied with the things of God. The marring person is the person who has their mind divided between how they can serve their fouse and their family and how they can serve the Lord if they have time to do that. So that's the pious argument. Next, there's the textual argument. Textual argument basically is the Bible says stay single again First Grintian seven twenty five to twenty seven. A little earlier in First Corinthians says, now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who, by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife, do not seek to be free? Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. So again the textual argument for pursuing singleness right here, again from First Corinthians, chapter seven. Then there is the theological argument. The theological argument doesn't come from a particular text. The theological argument actually is not an argument that you're going to find in a particular text, though it is a biblical reality. The theological argument is simply this, Jesus never married. That's the argument. Jesus never married. In fact, when what he must be if he wants to marry my daughter first came out, one of the things that was happen and blogs and you know, other things like that was individuals were writing and making arguments about the book and having problems and difficulties with the book, saying that it's basically wrong to have your focus on preparing for marriage. It's wrong to be preparing for marriage. What you ought to do and what Christians ought to be focused on is being christ Like and being godly, not in preparing to be married. In fact, and if you're going to prepare to be christ like, Christ was never married, so if you put that as your emphasis, you're actually moving away from the lifestyle that Christ modeled. Again will answer these momentarily, So the pious argument, let's answer the pious argument. The pious argument is we must do ministry first. To see that there in First Corinthians, chapter seven and thirty two to thirty five, we need to do ministry first. The answer Paul is discussing singleness as a permanent status contingent upon a supernatural gift, not a temporary launching pad for ministry. Let me say that again. Paul is discussing singleness as a permanent status contingent upon a supernatural gift, not a contemporary launching pad for ministry. If you go back earlier in One Corinthians, chapter seven, and look for example at verses six through nine. Here's what we find now, as a concession, not a command, I say this, I wish that all were as I myself am, But each has his own gift from God. Might underline that each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. So the idea of singleness to which Paul is referring here is a gift from God. It is not something that he is forcing. It is a gift from God. It is not something that he is making himself do. It is a gift from God. To the unmarried and widows, I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am, but if they cannot exercise self control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. That idea there of remain single means remain single. The text here is a reference to people who have a supernatural gift, and as a result of that supernatural gift, they can remain single as Paul remained single. This is absent, absolutely not a reference to people forcing singleness upon themselves when they don't have that supernatural gift. In order to do ministry as long as they can before they succumb and give in to the less godly lifestyle of marriage. That is not what's being proposed or promoted here again Matthew, chapter nineteen. Jesus says, or the Disciple said to him, if such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry. After jesus teaching on divorce and re marriage, which is way different than what they had heard, he basically says, you're locked in. You can't go. They said it's better not to get married then, But he said to them, not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are units who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made unichs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it. By the way, the idea of being a eunuch is not at all the idea of something temporary. It is permanent. It is the idea of absolute, permanent, irreversible singleness. It is not the idea of looking at singleness as a preferred state and trying to maintain that state as long as you possibly can, especially in light of the fact that Paul says, but if anyone cannot exercise self control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. Marry, what do we say. We say, here's a child. My child does not have that supernatural gift of singleness. They desire a spouse. But I want to hold this idea out for them that the more pious thing to do is to go and serve the Lord and put off marriage as long as possible. So what I want them to do is go burn with passion and not satisfy that in an effort to go serve God. That's the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that if you do not have that supernatural gift, don't try to live like you do. Get married. But again, pious argument somehow says that this is a superior state. Here's the other problem. The other problem with it, as I stated on yesterday, is that this argument takes marriage and demotes it. It makes marriage to the secondary state. It makes marriage to the state for those who are not necessarily as committed to the Lord, or not as important in God's kingdom or in God's eyes. The great irony is the attempt is being made for single people not to be made to feel like that, like singleness is not somehow, you know, a subpar state, that single people are somehow not just unimportant in the Lord's eyes. Trust me. One Corinthians chapter seven makes that very clear that single people are not less than people who have been given this gift and called by God to serve him in this unique way by being single. Are not less than That's Paul's entire argument. But they're also not more than. And it's also not temporary. So where's the balance in this? Here's the balance in this. We raise our children to recognize the fact that before they get married, they have unique opportunities to serve the Lord, and that they should take advantage of those unique opportunities to serve the Lord, but not at the expense of marriage. Not at the expense of marriage. So the person who says, hey, I'm going to go spend a year in Zambia so that I can go and minister there and work with Brother Conrad and help them do all that, just wonderful. All things going on in Zambia. I'm gonna take a year and i'm gonna go over there and i'm gonna serve over there. That is great, Go do it. I'm single, i'm not married. I have the opportunity. I'm going to go and I'm going to do that. There's another person, though, and this is the person who says, you know what, I really love Jenny, and I think i'm gonna marry Jenny. But before I marry Jenny, who I'm committed to and who's committed to me, I'm gonna take a year and i'm gonna go over to Zambia, and I'm gonna see that's a completely different deal altogether. You marry Jenny and take her to Zambia with you, ay man. But again, somehow we've been conditioned to believe that it's incredibly pious to do the latter. It's not. It's absolutely not. Second argument, the textual argument answering the textual argument. Remember the textual argument, are you down to a wife? Do not seek to be free? Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife? The textual argument is the Bible says stay single answer number one. There's two answers to this one one. Paul gives his instruction in view of what he calls the present distress under which his readers lived. In verse twenty six, look with me if you again, if you will there in First Gristians, chapter seven, look beginning verse twenty five. Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who, by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. Here's the question. First of all, that's a qualified recommendation. It's two things. It's a recommendation, not a command. And two it's a qualified recommendation. Now, when I say it's a qualified recommendation, what I mean is this. It is not a recommendation for all people, and it is not a recommendation for all circumstances. This is not a recommendation, for example, that Paul gives to anyone else to whom he writes, But it's recommendation that he gives here in Corinth. Secondly, it's a qualified recommendation, and that he gives it in light of the present distress. Unfortunately, he does not define the present distress. We don't know what the present distress is. We don't know if there was a circumstance in corinth We don't know if there was a broader circumstance. We have no idea. But we know that this is a qualified recommendation given in light of what he calls the present distress. Listen to John Wesley commenting on this. Paul does not here urge the present distress as a reason for celibacy any more than for marriage, but for a man's not seeking to alter his state, whatever it be. His point is not the superiority of marriage or the superiority of singleness. His point here is not altering your state whatever it is, because of whatever the present distress was. And yet this also has to be taken in the context of what he says in the rest of First Corinthians, chapter seven. Not to mention the rest of his writings. But if this present distress was something so significant, for example, you know, some say, well, this present distress, he's merely referring to the fact that we live in the last days. And because of the fact that we live in the last days, we shouldn't be going around seeking after marriage. Hmm. Small problem. He says several times in First Corinthians chapter seven, get married. So if this present distress was something that he was using to say, don't seek marriage, that wouldn't fit. Second, this interpretation puts the apostle at odds with the rest of scripture, not to mention his own writings One Timothy five eleven to fourteen. We read on last night, let me read it again, but refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry, and so incur condemnation, having abandoned their former faith. Besides that they learned to be idlers, going about from house to house, not only idlers, but also gossips and busy bodies saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows remain single in light of the present distress. It's not what he says. I would have younger widows marry their children, manage their household, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. He does not say, young widows have once again been blessed with the superior state of singleness, and I would have them go for it. He says, get married, Get married. So if this argument was an argument against marriage. If this argument was an argument for us all to pursue singleness as much and as long as we possibly could, and only give into marriage as an absolute last resort, it puts him at odds with the rest of his writings. Finally, the theological argument, Remember the theological argument is Jesus never married. Jesus never married, and let me backtrack it for you again. These are individuals who say, listen, the whole idea that we would be preparing our children for marriage is at odds with the idea that what we're called to is to prepare our children to be christ like. You prepare your children to be like Jesus. That's the goal of a Christian. To be like Jesus Christ, to be conformed to his image. That's the goal of a Christian. If you are making it your goal to prepare your sons and your daughters for marriage, then you are adding something that is actually at odds with being christ Like, because Jesus never married. Let me address that that's wrong for a number of reasons, not the least of which is this. Jesus is the bridegroom who came to redeem his bride died to save his bride, is seated at the right hand of his father, interceding for his bride as he prepares a place for her in his father's house, and is coming again to receive his bride unto himself and consummate their union at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Amen, Jesus is the bridegroom. That's who he is when he returns. He's returning for his bride. Listen to this in Revelation twenty one one two three. Then I saw a new heaven and a new Earth, for the first heaven and the first Earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the Holy City New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation nineteen sixt through eight. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah. For the Lord, our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. Now I want you to look again the passage that we've looked at a number of times over the course of this weekend. Ephesians, chapter five, beginning of verse twenty two, Wives submit to your own husband's ask to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, and is himself its savior. Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. How is preparing our daughters for this kind of submission that is to mirror the submission of the Church to Christ, somehow competing with the idea of preparing our daughters to live for Christ. The answer it is not verse twenty five. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the Church, because we are members of His body. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two should become one flesh. This, this mystery is profound, and I'm saying that refers to Christ and the Church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. How is preparing your son to be a bridegroom to be a husband any different than preparing him to be christ Like when the fact of the matter is the role of the husband is the mirror image of the role of Christ and his relationship to his bride the Church. Preparing your daughter to be a wife and a mother, preparing your son to be a husband and a father, is teaching your child to be like the one who has redeemed them. It is preparing them to be christ Like. It is pointing to Jesus Christ as the only one who is worthy of their all, and even seeing their marriage relationship as that which is wholly given over to the worship of Almighty God and the glory of Jesus Christ. So, no, there is not a conflict between preparing our children for marriage and our command to raise them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. In fact, here is the great irony. The argument is, no, what we ought to be doing is preparing our children to be christ Like, not preparing our children for marriage. Question, what is the context wherein we are allowed to have children at all? Don't go too fast here. Okay, we have children because we enter into this one flesh union called marriage, and they flow forth as fruit of that one flesh union called marriage. So it is because of this blessed union called marriage that there are children to be discipled. And now we're arguing that the discipleship of children should not include preparing them for this one flesh union that number one brought them into being. And secondly, is the means by which God says other children will be brought into being? That makes no sense at all. How do we get to the next generation blasmosis. The only way to get to the next generation is through that one flesh union. And if that one flesh union is going to be a God honoring union that prepares and raises children to the glory and honor of God, then we had better be about the business of discipling our children, teaching our children, and preparing our children to view their marriages in a Christ honoring way so that they can in turn teach the next generation to do so as well. There is no conflict of interest here. Here's the other thing. If I prepare my daughters to be wives and mothers, and I prepare my sons to be husbands and fathers, and to view those roles through the lens of the relationship between Christ and his Church, and God gives them a supernatural gift and calling to be single, what have I lost nothing? If, on the other hand, I neglect my duty to prepare my daughters to be wise and mothers, and to prepare my sons to be husbands and fathers, and God does not, which in most cases does not. Very few people throughout in the history of the world, very few people have been given the gift and the calling of singleness. So I don't prepare my chilren for marriage, and God doesn't give them the gift and calling of singleness, and they end up married with no preparation. Then would have I lost. I've lost a great deal. I've lost a great deal. It is of great benefit to us all, to us all to prepare. It is of great benefit to us all to view ourselves through this lens that honors Christ as the bridegroom, and great detriment to us all when we neglect to prepare a generation for marriage. And we're seeing that now. And here's the great irony. I meet folks all the time who basically bear this testimony, and their testimony is, you know, I wasn't raised with this stuff. I wasn't raised in a godly family. My parents didn't teach me anything about marriage. I wasn't prepared for marriage, and it's been rough. And then you ask the plain person, what are you doing to prepare your children for marriage? And they look at you like a calf staring at a new gate. Never thought about that. So wait a minute. Your marriage has suffered because your parents didn't prepare you for marriage. Your life has been made more difficult because your parents didn't prepare you for marriage. You resent the fact that your parents didn't prepare you for marriage, and in turn, what you're doing is not preparing your children for marriage. You hypocrite. You hypocrite. That's the only word for it. It is hypocrisy, pure and simple. Oh, my parents didn't give me that. That's okay, kids, you don't need it, do you see that? Because most people don't. Most people don't at all. And you say that to most people, and here's their response, Well, well no, but see, well no, I don't give that to my children because my parents didn't give it to me. And since my parents didn't give it to me, I really not equipped to give it to my children. Really, here's what's interesting about that. I especially love that. It's certain circumstances where this just works like a charm, especially when you're talking to homeschool families. I love it because I kind of go, okay, wait a minute, let me see I get this right. You can't give that to your children because your parents didn't give it to you. Yeah, that's right, your parents home school you. No, Well wait a minute, how on earth are you giving that to your children. Your parents didn't give that to you. You talk fancy to me. Think about how many things those of us who know and follow heart after God did not get from our parents. Here's the last problem with that. If that's your argument, then here's what you're arguing. You're arguing that the Bible is not sufficient. I can't give it to my children because my parents didn't give it to me. Equals. The only way I can pass down god honoring truth is if I saw it, because reading it in the Bible is just not enough. Being in a solid God honoring church surrounded by Titus to men and women is just not enough. I am doomed and destined to repeat the failures of my family because the blood of Jesus may be sufficient to wash me of my sins and get me into Heaven, but He can in no wise sanctify me beyond that which I experienced in the home where I grew up. Shame on us for believing that in any area of our lives. Shame on us for blaspheming against our Savior like that in any area of our lives. Christ's redeeming work is sufficient. The Word of God is sufficient. We have what we need. And let me just give you a little newsflash. There's only two people that I know of that weren't born into a dysfunctional family, and they created the first dysfunctional family. Amen, Adam and Eve were the only two people who were not born into a dysfunctional family. Canaan Abel were born into, not a dysfunctional family, the dysfunctional family. In fact, Canaanable's family defined dysfunctional family. Canaanable's family is the reason that all other families are dysfunctional families. Two people in the whole world that weren't born in dysfunctional families, and they created the first one. So how then, is it an excuse you were born into a dissormptional family because everybody was. I'm sorry, everybody was. That excuse doesn't work. So again, Christ's redemptive work sufficient, the word of God sufficient, and the idea that somehow there's somebody out there who's doing what they're supposed to do only because they didn't come from a dysfunctional family and you did, negates the biblical idea of the extent of the fall. Well, I believe that about text care of all of it. So when is the young man ready? A young man is ready as soon as we see in him a readiness, a willingness, and a desire to be priest, prophet, provider and protect her, and evidence that God has worked those graces in his life. That's when he's ready, and it is incumbent upon us at that moment to help him move forward and find a wife, not to grab a hold of the reins and encourage him to tempt the Lord, his God as long as he possibly can. Now, here's the other side of the ledger. The other side of the ledger is this, It's great, somebody in turn off their phone. It's me. The other side of the ledger is this. On the other side of the ledger. Ultimately, there's another piece of the puzzle for being ready, because you know, I can have all those things, praise, profit, provider, protect her, I can have all of my checklists, all of those things that you look for in a young man. They can all be there, But she's not. Amen. If she's not, I'm gonna go ahead and go out on a limb here and say that God has just said not yet. I mean, I'm not the prophet or the son of a prophet, but i would say that that's probably what God is trying to communicate, not yet. If he's got everything squared away, and she's nowhere to be found. I'm gonna say not yet, because Adam had everything squared away, but he was not about to get married until he went to sleep. Amen, and God I'd brought a wife. So and this is true for the other side of the corner as well. You can have young women who are just ripe and ready. But unless and until God has brought the qualified corresponding part, the answer is not yet. Well, so what do you do because I get that a lot. You know, I've got a son who's just ready. But I look around and there's just no You know, I've got a daughter who's just ready, and I look around and this, So what do you do? The answer wait, Wait on the Lord. That's what you do. You wait on the Lord, and you wait until the Lord provides not just somebody, but a biblically qualified appropriate somebody. And only then, only then is it time. Don't get impatient. You get impatient, you jump at things that you shouldn't jump at. Amen. All right, let's pray, Father, thank you for your great kindness to us, and again for the way that you continue to instruct us. We ask that you would continue to prepare our hearts make us ready, continue to buy your grace. Give us wisdom to swim against the tide of our culture. Our culture is not right on these things, and is paying the price for that. Grant by your grace, that we might be obedient to you, that we might trust you, that we might wait upon you, and that we might rejoice in your position. Honestly, O.