It Takes Two

As seen in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

“It Takes Two”

            We’ve heard these three little words coupled with many phrases in our lifetimes.  “It takes two to tango,” “It takes two to argue,” and many more.  It also takes two teams to make a game, it takes two turtle doves to make a Christmas song, and it takes two wheels to make a bicycle.  There are many pairs of items in our world which things work properly.

            Recently I was talking with a friend of mine.  He and his wife were celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.  They are the nicest couple, but something he said struck a chord in my mind.  He said it was a record for both of them, as they had each been previously married.  I responded with my own quip of, “Well, it takes two sides to make a good record.”  How true this is.  As I meet with couples in pre-marital counseling, I tell them a marriage is not a 50/50 proposition.  This popular thought would indicate marriage is one big compromise, which we all know it is not.  I tell them marriage is a 100% give, not expecting anything in return!  It takes on partner giving all they have to the relationship to make it work the way it is designed to be.  It’s a hard pill for some to swallow.

            How is your relationship with your Heavenly Father?  Do you expect it to be a 50/50 relationship?  Maybe you have given your life to Christ only to set back and expected Him to do all the work in your relationship?  If that is the case, aren’t we acting very stingy or selfish, not willing to contribute to the relationship’s success?

            The Pharisees attempted to catch Jesus by asking Him which of the commandments given by God was the greatest.  You see, the Pharisees, like us, just loved to rank things.  We do the same.  We have big lies, little lies, big errors, small ones, etc.  We see things based on our perceived magnitude of impact.  God does not see things through the same lens.  Jesus responded, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  In essence, Jesus was telling them all the laws were equal, but if you wanted to keep them all, give 100% of yourself to God.

            We do not know how long each of us has on this earth.  When we are young, we view life like an old LP record which is played at the speed of 33 rpm.  As we grow older, our record speed increases to the old singles which had a side A and a side B.  They were play at 45 rpm.  But as we look back on a long life, we see it was played out at the speed of an old 78 rpm record.  Don’t wait to give everything you have to the Lord.  It is the way God wants a relationship with you.  In turn, He will give His very best to you as well.