Have you ever heard about the man and his grandson who went on a journey, walking and leading a donkey? They soon met a passer-by who said, "How foolish for both of you to be walking." So, the man put his grandson on the donkey and went on their way. The next person they met said, "How dreadful that a strong boy should be riding while an old man walks." So, the boy got down and the grandfather climbed up on the donkey, and they went on their way. They then met another passer-by who said, "I can't believe a grown man would ride and make a poor little boy walk." So, the man pulled up his little grandson and they both rode. This seemed to be the solution until the next person they met said, "I never thought I would see anything so cruel in all my life -- two intelligent humans riding on a poor defenseless donkey." Well, as the next person passed by, they heard him whisper under his breath, "I thought I'd seen it all, but I've never seen two people carrying a donkey before!"

The point? If you know what's right, do it, regardless of what others might say. After all, you will never be able to please everyone, so why not just be sure you please the Lord. "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Colossians 3:17).

We all are aware of the large number of divorces that are taking place across our nation. Some statistics say as many as one out of every two marriages will be broken in a courtroom. Add to that figure those marriages that are not officially broken in a courtroom, but are broken in the heart, and we have a rather staggering figure.

I believe that one of the causes for this present situation is summed up well in the following poem entitled, "Nice Nite In June." It goes like this.

Don't spend months preparing for a wedding that will last an hour, and neglect to prepare for a marriage that is to last a lifetime.

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; . . . So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, . . . For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. . . .Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband" (Ephesians 5:25-33).