Lucky 7?

Tomorrow is going to be an extremely busy day for weddings. The reason: the date is 7/7/07 and people think it’s lucky. Churches and halls have had this date completely booked for a year or more, and it had been almost impossible to find one that isn’t for months. Some people are content to just get married on this date, but others go to the extreme – they want to get married at precisely 7:00, have seven bridesmaids and seven groomsmen, have the bride wear the number seven somewhere on her person, and on and on it goes.

Now you listen to me.

In a day and age where half of all marriages end in divorce, it sounds like people will try anything to ensure their marriage will last. But you can pile up the lucky charms all you want. If you haven’t built a solid relationship your marriage is still going to fail. You’re going to have some serious problems in your marriage if you think picking a certain date for the wedding and other superstitious things are the key to marital bliss.

As the saying goes, marriage comes after the wedding. So instead of superstition, how about some premarital counseling to ensure you and your future spouse are compatible on the issues that matter. And how about building your relationship with your spouse on a solid foundation. Physical attraction and sex will not give you a strong marriage if that’s all you’ve based your relationship on. A love of baseball or hockey or beer drinking will not give you a strong marriage if that is the sole common ground you have built your relationship upon. A pure, strong and true spiritual foundation is what builds a strong marriage.

But does anybody even think about asking God to enter their marriages anymore? Or are they too busy picking out flower arrangements – and booking the church?