The Horse Or The Chicken

A farmer’s boy decided to get married. His father said to him, “John, when you get married, your liberty is gone.”

The boy said he did not believe it. The father said, “I’ll prove it to you. Catch a dozen chicken, tie their legs together and put them in the wagon. Hitch up the 2 horses to the wagon and drive into town. Stop at every house you come to, and whenever you find the man is boss, give him a horse. But whenever you find the woman is boss, give her a chicken. You’ll give away all your chickens and come back with 2 horses.

“is it really that bad?” The boy wondered. What is father trying to say? That the woman is the head of the house? That she is the boss? Still, the boy wouldn’t believe.

Nevertheless, he accepted the proposition and drove to town. He had stopped at every house and had given away 10 chickens when he came to a nice little house and saw an old man and his wife standing out on the front lawn. He called to them and asked, “who is the boss here?”

The man said, “I am.” Turning to the woman, the boy said, “Is he the boss?”

The woman replied, “Yes, he is the boss.”

The boy asked them to come down to the street. He then explained his reason for asking and told the man to pick out one of the horses. He said he would bring the horse back to him that afternoon. The old man and the old lady looked over the horses carefully, and the husband said, “I think the black horse is the better of the two.”

The wife then said, “I think that brown one is in every way the better horse. I would choose him.”

The old man took a careful look at the brown horse and said, “I guess I’ll take the brown horse.”

The boy smiled and said, “Oh no you won’t; you’ll take the chicken.”

Clearly, the woman is still the boss around the house.

Some times I get really tired of hearing all those jokes about certain men being “Under” the power and authority of their wives. All jokes imaginable have been concocted  and why is this so? Very simple. Because not too many people understand God’s design for marriage.

You would be amazed at the kinds of things business people say about marriage. One guy said that -Marriage is not a word. It is a sentence (a life sentence!).

Another one trying to play with the concept of philosophy deduces marriage this way: He says -Marriage is love.  Love is blind.  Therefore, marriage is an institution for the blind. Would you believe that?

One business man tired of all the household chores says that the Marriage certificate is just another word for a work permit.

One wise guy says that  you see that the disintegration of marriage comes in different stages:

In the first year of marriage, the man speaks and the woman listens adoringly.

In the second year, the woman speaks and the man listens agonizingly.

And in the third year, they BOTH speak and the NEIGHBORS listen excitedly.

Truth is those who make fun of marriage perhaps is simply being defensive about it. Maybe the guys in the office who tease men saying that their wives are their bosses are themselves being defensive in a way.

Somebody says: Marriage is an institution in which a man loses his Bachelor’s Degree and the woman gets her Masters. And lastly, another business man says: when a man holds a woman’s hand before marriage, it is love; after marriage, it is self-defense.

Husband and wife, instead of complementing each other collide with each other. This is not an exception, rather it is more of a rule. This is an eventuality because both parties in the marriage relationship do not understand his and her role.

Haven’t you noticed that after attending various marriage seminars, the husband and wife goes home even increased the intensity of their fights. Simply because they start blaming each other. This should not be.

The Bible says that the husband is  to love his wife to the point of even dying for her as Jesus Christ gave His life for the church. But the woman’s part is to submit to the authority of her husband. Mess up this pattern and your marriage is messed up too.

So the next time you hear those turkeys teasing you just because you don’t want to go with them to the bar after work tonight, they have no idea what marriage is all about. But you know better because you know the Word of God.