A Precious Bride
I froze.
I didn’t realize it, but I wasn’t moving. I was just standing there taking in the music and the hundreds of faces of our family and friends all looking at me… well… at us… Ok, they were looking at my daughter in her wedding dress. She looked beautiful!
Suddenly, I felt a gentle tugging at my arm, so I looked over at my daughter. She gave me a look that said, “Get me down the aisle!”
Thankfully, I had done a hundred or so weddings as a pastor, so I was used to composing myself in moments like this, with all the joyful emotions welling to the surface. And it truly was a joy to walk her down the aisle, hand her off to her new husband, and then perform the second part of the wedding service.
During my wedding sermon, I stated that it was a true joy and pleasure to entrust my daughter to someone I knew would seek to care for her as well as, or even better, than I had.
Revelation 19:7-8 says, “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure.”
Throughout scripture, we are called the Bride and Jesus the Bridegroom. In fact, the Old Testament is full of illustrations and prophecy that likens Israel to the Lord’s chosen love. And, at times, Israel’s disobedience and idolatry are likened to an unfaithful wife, or even to whoring (see Hosea and Ezekiel to name a few).
Weddings are a big production. I have two girls, so I’m speaking from experience here when I say that these events were the culmination of months and months of planning and hard work. The wedding day itself, complete with friends, family, dancing, food, and lots of joy, wouldn’t have happened without preparation.
As the Bride of Christ, we are also preparing for a wedding celebration. The author of Revelation says we are to clothe ourselves with fine linen, bright and pure (Rev 19:8a), which are “the righteous deeds of the saints.” We cannot be or do righteousness in our own power; in salvation, God grants us the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21). But, from this starting place, we are called to walk with Him in righteousness. This is how we prepare ourselves as His bright and pure bride.
The wonderful news is that our Bridegroom is eminently trustworthy.
The author of Revelation says that our Bridegroom is
Faithful and True (vs. 11)
He judges righteously and is a warrior for justice (vs. 11)
He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (vs. 16)
He is victorious over all that is evil (vs. 17-21)
Even though I trust my sons-in-law completely with the hearts and lives of my daughters, they are still going to make mistakes and fail to love my daughters (their wives) perfectly. But our Bridegroom Jesus Christ never fails to love us perfectly. There is truly no one more worthy of giving ourselves to. This is why we prepare ourselves for that glorious wedding day!
Dear Saints, may we find joy in getting ourselves ready for our Bridegroom through loving Him and loving others in righteousness.