My memory is not very good. My wife will often ask me if I remember some event from our past, and very often I simply can’t recall it.
One thing I remember vividly, however, is the first time I saw my bride in her wedding dress. She was perfect! She was so beautiful, it took my breath away (she still is, and does).
Now my bride Mary had taken great pains to get ready for our wedding day. She didn’t just pop out of bed that day and, “poof” was all ready. Imagine if she had simply shown up in her flannel pajamas, with bedhead, makeup leftover from the night before, …… What would the people present have thought? What would I (the groom) have thought? Namely, that she wasn’t particularly concerned about us or me or what our wedding would mean.
Pretty nonsensical, huh? What bride would fail to be ready for her wedding? What bride would be ignorant of the fact that preparation would be necessary?
Scripture tells us we, as the church, are the bride of Christ. And yet, I wonder if we as individual Christians and as the church are going to “show up in our flannel pajamas” at the marriage of the Lamb (Rev 19:7)?
Ray Vander Laan, in his excellent book Echoes of His Presence, relates that in the Jewish custom of Jesus’ day, the groom (or groom’s father) would pay a bride price for the woman the groom desired. The groom would then offer the betrothed a cup of wine. The bride would choose to take the cup and drink, or she could refuse. If she accepted, she was accepting his offer and committing her life to him. She was betrothed — engaged! She would then spend the time between the betrothal and the marriage ceremony preparing to be the bride and wife that would honor her husband. While she was doing that, the groom had left to prepare a place for his bride. When all the preparations had been made, he would return for his bride.
I hope you’re seeing the connection — Jesus has paid a bride price for us — His very life. We accepted the cup when we repented and placed our faith in His death and resurrection. Our responsibility is now the same as that of the Jewish bride. We should be preparing ourselves for His return!
How do we prepare ourselves? Take a look at Hebrews 12:14; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 1:13-16.
What is the common theme? Be holy.
More on this in subsequent blogs. For now, I ask you — have you forgotten about the wedding?
Ants in the Pants of Faith 
I got up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep, so I went blog reading. This is the last thing I read before I tried to go back to sleep. You got my fuzzy thinking. Lucky you!
First, I enjoy Ray VanderLaan.
But, that wasn’t what my fuzziness was about. This is my second marriage. On my first marriage, I spent very little time thinking about being married. My planning was all about the big day. Okay, I planned it in less than 72 hours, but in that time I spent a lot of money, made a lot of phone calls to set up dinners, invited guests, etc. I had my hair and nails professionally done.
While Ron and I were courting (and we really did court because we lived over 1500 miles away from each other), we did Bible studies together, we talked about our hopes and dreams, we talked about our life together. I did kind of just show up for the wedding. Oh, I bought a nice dress on eBay for $75. Ron’s mom arranged to have the only caterer in Fairfax, MN feed our guests. We didn’t get centerpieces for the tables at the reception hall. Instead, we had the baker make individual cakes for each table. I hadn’t really thought as much about being a bride… I spent a LOT of time thinking about what it meant to be a wife. I spent a lot of time getting to know the groom.
In our home we follow the biblical holidays outlined in Leviticus 23. We just finished Sukkot, the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. I haven’t forgotten the wedding. But, I wonder, have I forgotten the marriage? Do I know my groom?
Great thoughts…
What a great thought — knowing the groom is a vital part of the marriage! Not much of a relationship otherwise. Really appreciate you sharing and reading!