Picture this.
The king charges out of his castle, followed by his army, to engage the enemy, camped in the distance. They leave the women and children behind in the safety of the castle. The king is confident of victory, having easily driven the enemy back the past two days.
This time, however, things are different. Unknown to the king, the enemy has divided into two battalions. One has spent the night in their camp on the plain, less than a mile north of the castle’s gate. The other has secretly slipped into the woods a half mile west of the castle, hiding in ambush.
As the king’s army approaches the enemy camp, once again they see the enemy begin to run away. But as the king is about to overtake the fleeing soldiers, he hears a shout from the rear, “The castle! Look at the castle!”
The king first glances over his shoulder, then pulls hard on the reins of his horse and turns to face the horrible sight. The castle is on fire. In the tower he sees the red distress flag being waved fiercely back and forth, the signal that the caste is under attack. Then, suddenly, the red flag disappears.
The king cries out, “Defend the castle!” and begins charging back toward his home. But he is too late. The fleeing soldiers turn to pursue the king’s army, and the other battalion, having finished their work in the castle, charges out to sandwich them in.
In the end, the enemy has total victory. There are no survivors, and the castle is destroyed.
The castle is your marriage. And your marriage has an enemy camped outside the gate, an enemy that is persistent, determined and resourceful. That enemy is scheming to destroy the castle of your marriage one way or another, and he will keep at it and be a constant threat no matter how many times you win the victory.
Marriage is a castle worth defending. The enemy would not be so tenacious were it not for the tremendous value of that castle, your marriage.
Hebrews 13:4 (The Message) says, “Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband.”
Marriage is a castle worth defending. The sacredness of the relationship between a husband and wife must be guarded by all of us.
