I really like Saturday mornings. I like to drink coffee, read, write, and relax. This morning I’m listening to cellist Elinor Frey and getting ready to make some changes to tomorrow’s sermon. Meanwhile Monieca put a kettle of pinto beans on the stove. Later we’ll add some corn bread and pork chops to make one of our favorite country dinners. It has the makings of restful day.

Then it happened…the vacuum cleaner.

That’s right! My beautiful wife decided it was time to do some house cleaning, so the vacuum cleaner is now competing with the relaxing sounds of classical music. My plans to enjoy a peaceful and quiet Saturday morning were just shot to pieces.

I found myself having an interesting conversation with myself. You can imagine some of the things I said in my mind. Some of them were not so nice, while others were very understanding. It reminded me of those classic TV scenes where a devil sits on a person’s left shoulder and an angel sits on their right. Competing voices!

Fortunately this time the angel’s voice carried the day.

Marriage consists of many moments when those competing voices fill our thoughts. If we give in to the “devil” voice too often, marriage suffers. If we heed the “angel” voice most of the time, marriage prospers. Which voice we follow is always a choice.

This Sunday we’re going to talk about protecting our marriage – about playing good defense. Part of playing good defense is not getting faked out by the “devil” voice that often causes people to make really bad decisions and justify really dumb choices.

So I hope you’ll join us tomorrow at First Baptist for worship and invite a friend to come with you. Only three weeks remain in our current sermon series “Marriage is a Team Sport.”

Pastor Steve Hogg