My Heavenly Fiance

Revelation 19:6-9
"Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
   'Hallelujah!For the Lord our God
   the Almighty reigns.
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'—
   for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.'"

What a wedding that will be. The church will be presented to Christ as a beautiful bride, fit for her groom.She will be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure because of the righteous deeds of the saints. She has made herself ready. How glorious will be that announcement: "the marriage of the Lamb has come!" I don't know about you, but reading through this passage fills me with joy and expectation. I cannot wait for that day, when I can see my Savior's face and be ushered into his presence and claimed as his bride. Glory! Hallelujah! Amen!

The church is referred as the bride of Christ throughout the New Testament: John 3:29; Ephesians 5:25-33; Revelation 18:23; 19:7. It's a wonderful thing to be referred to as a bride. As a bride-to-be, myself, these verses are very poignant. These passages are making me think hard about how I have been living. Am I living as a fiance' of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are the bride of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. How are we living? Are we sold out for Christ, living pure to bring glory to our fiance'? Or, are we living for ourselves thinking, "that's happening later. My life now is for myself." I find myself living for the latter, but I should be living life for my Heavenly Fiance'.

Let me put it in earthly terms. I am getting married to Eric Hall on May 5. Could you imagine the audacity if I were to say, "Eric, I love you, and I promise to marry you on May 5. However, for right now, I am going to live completely for myself. I am going to date other men, love other men more than I love you, and never spend any time with you until we get married. On May 5, I am yours, completely and totally. After May 5, I will be sold out for you, but right now, I'm gonna live it up. For the next 210 days, I am going to enjoy my single life in whatever way pleases me best at this moment." To say the least, Eric and I would probably not be engaged. That would be completely ludicrous! But how many times to we do that to Christ? "I know one day I'm going to marry Christ, but for right now, I want to live my own life, please myself, love others more than him. I don't want to get 'tied down' yet. I still have a life here on earth, so for now, I am going to live it up, forget about Christ, and love other things." That's awful! But we do it all the time. This has been so convicting for me! I need to live as a fiancee every day. I need to spend time with Him every day, love Him wholeheartedly every day,  give Him my undivided attention every day! He deserves my all. I need to love Him more than anything else, including my own earthly fiance'! I hope this is a challenge to you as it was to me. Live your life for Christ, so that you can be worthy to be the bride who has "made herself ready...clothed in linen, bright and pure."

What a glorious calling. May we live as brides-to-be every day. :)