The Saved Seat

Attending a church meeting a couple of weeks ago, an older man came to our pew and asked, "Is this seat saved?"  The seat was right beside me, so I replied that it was open.  Then he teased, "I thought you might be saving it for your husband."  Well, this particular man knows that I am unmarried, so I replied with a laugh and a joking comment about not needing to save the seat.

But then I realized that there is a seat I have been saving for my husband . . . in my heart.

Oh, I don't know who he will be or when I will meet him or if I have already.  Nothing like that.  But there is a place in my heart reserved for him.

The saved seat is a special place of love for one who also loves me.  It is built of respect for the responsibility that he will shoulder in being the leader of a godly house.  It is covered with admiration of a man truly made and rightly grown.  It is ornamented with trust in a loving God and in the care He has shown by bringing us love here below.  It is surrounded by the service of a giving heart that delights in bringing joy to those who have seats within the heart.  It is a large seat, hidden for now by a dark blanket of caution lest one should slip into that seat who is not worthy of it.

Saving this particular seat in the heart takes diligence.  The control of one's mind and actions is part of the task.  But the control of the emotions is key to this endeavor.  Once the heart is given to another, it cannot be returned in one piece.  There is a glue that binds the two together so that both must be torn if they are ever to be separated.  Whatever part of love and trust and respect is lost in relationships along the way diminishes the newness and the beauty of the saved seat.  So it is best to save all of those emotions for the one whose seat it is.

Pray to God for the strength to save a seat for the one beloved.  The saved seat is a beautiful place.