I do not know when I will know
That I have found the one
Whom God has prepared for me
The one whom I will love
Nevertheless, I hope one day
That you will be beside me
My arm ‘round you, and yours ‘round me
Being our daily life
Hard times will come, I do not doubt
But our love will be so strong
That we’ll have the strength to face the storm
And the wind won’t break our bond
I want to show through giving all
My love for you is true
I want to say, with more than words
“Oh, how I love you.”
I’ll love you from the day I vow
To never leave your side
Until the day when this life ends
And the Lord God is our Light
As for now, I do not know
If I have even met you
But either way, with hope I say
I will soon love you
-James E. Tucker
As I sit here, and I think of the possibility
That someone may choose to occupy
The empty seat next to me
I can only wonder what would come
Through such a simple act
And how my life may be touched
And even changed in fact
No one has chosen this spot in a while,
But I guess I can see why
Since all they prob’ly see in me
Is a quiet, self-centered guy
And a man who's only interests
Are music and the sky
I look ahead two seats now
And ponder so intensely
What I might possibly do
If she would sit here by me
Would I find a friend or maybe more?
My emotions overtake me
Then, once again, I turn my head
To see who now sits by me
And all I find, as usual,
Is another empty seat
Even still, I have Christ Jesus
He'll fill this empty seat
Even if none other is there
He always will be
-James E. Tucker, January 3, 2008
There's so much stuff in the world right now. So much depression. So much bondage. So much poverty. So much sin. So much pain. So much sickness. So much confusion. So much perversion. So much death. So much war. So much hunger. So much thirst. So much grace.
-James E. Tucker, January 16, 2008
Why must I try to satisfy
These desires overtaking?
Why can't I leave them all alone
And let God be my king?
These things, these wants
These ridiculous notions
This battle strong
In which I'm gone
Why can I not find peace?
"I've ruined it all!" I say
Then I think, and ruminate
"It's not all lost" I think again
"It's just beyond this gate."
There is peace, there is joy
There is more than what I've seen
There is pleasure, there is love
There is God's amazing grace
It's just beyond this gate
-James E. Tucker, February 13, 2008
Life is...
exceedingly fascinating
overwhelmingly beautiful
abundant in blessings
filled with tragedy
discovered in a form at conception
found anew at death
poured out from Heaven
pulled away toward Hell
carried back by Christ
-James E. Tucker, from a note posted to Facebook February 28, 2008
I am walking through a field
This field is everything I've known
And as I walk its dirty ground
I look and see, over a hill,
The sun is shining
Its rays the ground do drown
In light and heat
The sinful moisture evaporates
These are freedom's shining rays
-James E. Tucker, June 6, 2008
I attended a wedding yesterday. It was truly beautiful. This wedding, in addition to the one I recently attended and the one I plan to attend later this week, reminded me of the awesome symbolism found in marriage— a symbolism so great it is a tragedy that anyone would not realize it. Marriage, though awesome and beautiful in and of itself, is a painting of something even more wonderful. It is one of God’s awesome pictures of His relationship to His people.
Paul discusses in Ephesians chapter five, verses twenty-two through thirty-three, the symbolism of marriage:
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to 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 the Lord loves the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
These verses describe marriage as a very symbolic and beautiful union. The wife is to respect her husband and submit to him as the head of the family, just as the church is to submit to Christ as the head of His family—the family of believers in Him. The husband is to love his wife even to his own death, just as Christ loved us, and gave His own life for us.
I’m sure a lot of people could look at these verses as being “sexist,” or something of the like, with its saying that wives must submit to their own husbands and its describing husbands as the head of the wife. Seriously, though, how can anyone look at men and women and believe they should have the same role as one another, except when that belief comes from their own destructive pride or longing for supremacy, or, more simply, their sinful nature? Men and women are made distinctly different, and made as they are for a purpose. Nothing about a man, and nothing about a woman, is created without a purpose. (This is why, among other reasons, a man and a man or a woman and a woman cannot fulfill the true purpose of marriage. People are not built to paint the picture of God’s relationship with man with members of the same sex.) The statements made in the chapter in question are not sexist. They are filled with unbiased truth.
As stated before, the man is built to be the head of the family, and the woman is built to be under his authority. If this still sounds sexist, think of it this way: The woman is not the only one given instructions on how to treat her spouse. The man is told to love his wife just as Christ loved the church. Now, though the man is given by God authority over his wife, the man who loves his wife will never, and I repeat, never, take advantage of his role as long as he acts out of that love. It is a role, not of power, but of responsibility and sacrifice. Christ is the head of the church, but He does not take, nor has He ever taken, advantage of His status as that. He gave His life to rescue his bride, because he loved her so much to do so. The wife is under the authority of the husband, but she is also under the outpouring of his love for her. If the husband ever takes advantage of his role as head of the family, he is not fulfilling his duty—his purpose—as a man. In the moment that a man abuses his role, he no longer reflects Christ as the head of the church, for he is acting, not out of love, but out of selfish ambition.
This concept of marriage as a symbol of God’s relationship with man also brings to light why adultery is considered so terrible by God. When someone commits adultery, they are, in essence, telling their spouse that they no longer hold him or her as highest person in their life. This is like when someone thinks more highly of someone or something else than he or she does of God. Just as a man becomes jealous when his wife looks at another man with a sparkle in her eye, so God becomes jealous when his people look at other things or people as greater than He.
Another aspect of the symbolism of marriage is the terrible division of divorce. A man and a woman often find their relationship falling apart, and many times never find a way to fix their broken marriage, so they decide to throw it all away. What they had—the times they had shared together, the love they once had for each other, the perfection of an unending union—is thrown into a pile of garbage, as if it meant nothing and never had any purpose. Yet, the pain brought about by this division is strong and piercing. Divorce was never in the plan of God for marriage. The pain it brings reflects the pain God feels when His people leave Him—when they decide that their relationship with Him no longer has meaning or purpose. God is never the one to bring about our divorce from Him. He loves His bride and always acts out of that love, for God is love. It is us who give up our love for Him for other things. It is us who leave Him.
I have referenced, not only marriage as picture of a good relationship with God, but several situations that paint pictures of a broken relationship with Him. Now, I would like to mention that marriage consists of more than just a relationship with a spouse, and, thus, that it reflects more than just our relationship with God. Often times, children come into the mix—the mix that is known as a family. Now, how do children, a product and major part of marriage, work into the picture? Well, perhaps, children represent the people who we have the responsibility to encourage and build up in faith. You see, when a husband and a wife have a child, they then have the responsibility and privilege of raising that child and training him or her in the way he or she should go. As well, a person who already has a strong relationship with God is to guide those without that relationship to Him, that they may become “brides” themselves.
Since marriage includes more than just a relationship between a man and a woman, if affects more than just the couple who are married. When a couple is divorced, their children are greatly affected. Just as that is so, so it is when a person departs from God—that departure can easily bring about confusion, misguided thinking, and even pain to anyone who has had an even somewhat close relationship with the person who left God.
Thus, the union of marriage is, indeed, a picture, an elaborate portrait, of the relationship between God and His people and the affects that that relationship has. It is a beautiful covenant made between one man and one woman—a covenant which God does not take lightly, but thinks of very highly. He sees it as a beautiful portrait that should never be touched with the pen or brush of another artist, for it is of His making, and all that He does is perfect.
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