The shotgun wedding ... one definition defines it as a wedding that is arranged to avoid embarrassment due to an unplanned pregnancy, rather than out of the desire of the participants. But, it may not always be what it appears to be ...and often it is much more.

There are only two ideal situations that I can recall reading about ...and they both reference paradise.

Yet, some of the best things in life are less than paradise ...and often very difficult.

Most of us would say that the greatest thing is love ...though not how we often represent it.

God is love.

And the greatest love that I've be shown is when God sent His Son, Jesus ...with full knowledge how His Son would be treated.  It is so good to look to the adorable baby in the manger ...with such humble beginnings, but for some it is difficult to grasp the crucifixion.

We all were created to have choice ...from the beginning.

But, choice was not really make available to us in a way that love can be defined ...until the crucifixion.

Without choice, there is no potential for love ...it cannot exist for us.

So, love is the greatest that can be for us ...and it exists to its greatest extent in many of our most difficult moments. Paradise does not really have its true meaning, unless we can appreciate it.

In the paradise of the Garden of Eden ...it was not truly recognized.  Yet, in the paradise of Heaven, it will be.

As the paradise of the Garden of Eden was to end, the woman was told her desires would be towards her husband; while the man was told he would have to sweat for the food to fill his stomach, that the woman would not be able to just hand it to him.

The woman would have to follow many paths of rejection, as a result of rejecting God's simple request.

The man would have to accept the fact that it was not only on one occasion that he would bite off more than he could chew ...and he'd have to be responsible as a result of his irresponsibility, of his putting priorities in the wrong place. He would be often unpopular if he was to choose the responsible way, but he'd have to endure it for something much more important.

Why does what we call, Levitical law, seem so strict??

It is often rejected by many people, and many aspects of it should be rejected today ...as it does not apply in the same way as it did, though it should not be rejected for what it was.  It may be difficult to understand, but it exists in our Bible, so it should be attempted to be understood.

The law concerning relationships, and marriage ...should also reflect our relationship with God.  It is no small thing to consider this.  And it should be clearly understood that the way things were practiced, were not the way they were written.

If a woman was not married, yet found to be pregnant ...the man was to be held just as guilty as the woman, yet that is not the way they often practiced it.  Jacob, who was known as Israel, had a son named Judah ...who made it clear that he was more in the wrong, stating, "She has been more righteous than I ..."

Jesus said that to whom much is given, to him much shall be required.  And He also said, that he who is without sin, cast the first stone.

We often act like we live in a glass house, where we can see what everyone around us is doing ...while we often don't think that those outside can see us too.  Even if we try to protect our own self image, and tint our windows ...it still holds true that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

There is a certain kind of crazy logic that we often use ...that does not require much thinking, nor much benefit to anyone.

A person will not park their car under a walnut tree that drops its fruit every 30 seconds ...they would be considered a nut if they did.

But, if they park under a tree with a squirrel's nest in it, they cuss the squirrel if it drops one nut.

And it is much crazier to think we should cuss the baby, favoring abortion ...than take responsibility ourselves.  We sacrifice what God would have us do ...when we should reconcile, take responsibility, and rethink, so next time we follow what He would have us do.

In those old classic TV shows, like Leave It To Beaver, if someone wanted a pet dog or something, they were told that they had to take full responsibility ...saving up to afford it, then also affording the responsibility of taking care of all that is necessary with raising a dog.

God views every life as important ...though every life does turn out to be workable.  The Shotgun wedding was an attempt to make it workable.  There was no killing intended ...no killing of the unborn child, no killing of the father of the child and the babies chance of having one, and no killing of the woman's hopes and dreams.  If she had given herself to the man in a way that she became pregnant ...she had likely given herself to hopes and aspirations.  And the shotgun was more of insisting upon responsibility ...and sort of saying, "If you were close enough at that moment of conception, and you were in the moment because you desired it and felt it made you happy ...then you sure as well better continue to make her happy if you don't want to face this shotgun."

The runaway rates at which divorce and abortion are rising to ...are lowering our standards where there are nearly no standards.  If you neglect to see what is most important, you will neglect much more.  If you neglect to follow not the Levitical law, but the current law ...then there is likely no law you will respect ---not the life of the impregnated girl, the unborn child, or your own life floating upon the breeze of whatever wind comes your way ....and tragically, it may be your own life in jeopardy. 

So, though I do not always like the imagery, the shotgun wedding had many right motives, when the intention was really to never fire a shot.  It definitely seems better to me than what others do, which Jesus disapproved of ...casting the first stone.

The shotgun wedding was attempting to do something to make things right ...or as right as they could be.  That's what reconciling is about. It's not about protesting, and actual shooting.  Crime is not supposed to be tolerated, nor allowed to continue ...let alone be encouraged.  People protest that they want rights ...and they go about it performing wrongs.  

Lawlessness is not the avenue of freedom.  It may appear for a time to be effective in making certain points, but it is certain to eventually lead to less freedom.  Someone or some entity always eventually rises to the dreaded occasion ...and the result is a dictatorship, with less freedom.

Can we not see how the peaceful protests of Tiananmen Square turned out??  Thousands of youth died as tanks rolled in to make it clear that there would be no uprising to attempt to influence the current dictatorship.

Yes, there is much to say about respect ...of every person, but also of God, who is no respecter of any person, yet considers all person cumulatively while He individually loves each of us, and had sent His Son to save us from eternally living with the self we so often try to defend.

There is a saying that goes, "You can't outgive God."

Yet, we forget some of the most meaningful giving comes from difficult moments.  We often try to give gifts that really should not be ...arguably, many of these things we buy on credit, not wanting to wait.

And often we think we want what we later think we don't. Sometimes that's not a huge issue, but our flexibility with this should not involve other lives in tragic ways.

If we have fleeting interests, and decide we want to freely move in and out of relationships ...we don't have God's understanding of what affect it has upon others.  We should cherish all life today, and also cherish it tomorrow.  The flowers in the bride's hand will fade ...and the flower holding the flower of hope will also fade in many people's expectations, but the Word of God lasts forever.

Forever resides in God's hands ...and it is an extended hand of love.  If we reject the hand that reaches out to save us ...what happens??  

We fall.

But, God's arm is not short ...we just don't know whether our time is, so reach out now.