It’s been a week of celebrating for our family: Klaus and Brooke’s wedding, three family birthday parties, out-of-town company, and unnumbered festivities wedged in between. But when all the excitement is over and life settles into its new normal, what will be remembered most?

Today I re-read the notes Nelson used to officiate the wedding, taking another look at his more serious comments to the bride and groom. He agreed to let me quote him here, as he addressed Brooke and Klaus:

Although having fun together, having good chemistry, and having lots in common are great places to start a marriage, these are not the bedrock that will hold you guys together over the long haul. Consider the words of Christ from Matthew 7. “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house. Yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”

Today you’re starting to build a house. It’s a spiritual house. From this day forward, you’re not building alone, but together. The Lord uses everyday images to teach these simple principles. Consider the big beautiful houses built right on Lake Michigan. What if a builder constructed a multi-million dollar house and then set it on a sand dune without a foundation? It would be certain failure.

But the Lord’s words are reassuring and empowering on this wedding day. He says that while “the winds blew and beat against that house” the house didn’t fall. We might say, “When trouble comes into your lives as a couple, you won’t fall, because your foundation is on the rock.”

That rock is Jesus Christ and your building blocks are his words. The Christian couple stays together because their faith is in someone far greater than each other. Walking this faith out one day at a time is building on that solid foundation. Marriage is meant to last a lifetime, not a week or a year or even ten years. It goes well into the unknown future.

Many marriages begin with a contract contingent on the performance of the individuals. “If you make me happy, I’ll love you.” It’s performance based. This may work for a few years, but when storms come, people pack up and leave. They’ve built on sand and the house collapses.

A God-centered marriage will last a lifetime because it doesn’t stand based on the performance of either person. It’s built on the bedrock foundation of Jesus Christ. Today you’re starting to build that house.

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Although our recent wedding day included lots of wonderful words, these from Jesus surely are the most significant, not just for Brooke and Klaus but for all of us.

 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.” (Matthew 7:24-26)