LISTEN TO DEVOTIONAL
Before you marry someone, don’t just ask if you love each other. Ask if you’re heading in the same direction.
A grandfather gave his grandsons this advice about finding a wife. He told them, “Ask God what He wants you to do with your life and start running as fast and hard in that direction as you can. When you see someone running just as hard alongside you in the same direction, that’s the one!”
The Bible gives us an ancient picture that runs along those same lines. It cautions, “Do not team up with those who are unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14). Older scripture translations call this being “unequally yoked.” A yoke was a piece of wood that joined two animals so they could pull a load together. Imagine the frustration of hitching together two animals determined to walk in opposite directions.
That scripture is talking about our deepest allegiance: What are you chasing? Who are you following? What is your life built around? Marriage is a significant partnership, so those questions matter. Jesus said, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else” (Matthew 6:33), so your calendars, energy, ambitions, and spending should show that you’re building toward the same kind of life.
Picture an ordinary Wednesday ten years from now. There are bills, laundry, work deadlines, maybe children needing dinner and help with homework. Do your ideas about faith, family, money, work, and responsibility still fit together? Do you enjoy ordinary life together?
Being equally yoked doesn’t mean being identical. It means sharing your deepest allegiance and being able to carry the load in the same direction. Before marriage, you have the gift of examining that carefully and prayerfully.
