Before I got married, at weddings I used to wonder what the bride feels. I imagined that she was probably happy and most likely nervous. I tried to guess what she was thinking, what she was talking about to her friends. Now as I've been a bride myself I can easily put myself in her shoes. Now I know exactly what she's feeling. That's why every time I go to a wedding I am twice as happy for the bride and groom.
Last weekend I got to visit our friends' wedding and the whole day was filled with joyful anticipation and delight for both bride and groom and for me. Of course, the guests, wishes, decorations, and desserts are nice, but to my mind, the best thing about weddings is that it's the day when the waiting ends.
"Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away" (Song. 2:10-13)
The season before the wedding (especially after engagement) is a wonderful, beautiful though a pretty tedious one. During this time people enjoy their relationship but they also look forward to the day when these relationships come into full force - their wedding day. Even though that day ends really quickly, guests leave, and decorations go down, a completely new season begins for this new family.
Even though people in the world like to joke about it, a Christian marriage is not the end of life, I would say it's the beginning. I'm not trying to depreciate single life because it definitely has its own perks (and apostle Paul would agree with me on that), but there's something special in a marriage that cannot be grasped until you are in one.
Why am I talking about all this and how does this concern those who are not ready to get married yet? If you look for descriptions of weddings and newlyweds in the Bible, apart from different stories about wedding feasts you will come by a description of one more Bride.
"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". (Rev. 19:7-8).
Studying the Bible we find out that this name is given to the Church, and Christ is her bridegroom. This is mostly mentioned in Revelation but can be also found in some of Paul's letters and parables of Jesus.
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her". (Eph. 5:25)
All this makes us think and compare a normal, earthly wedding that we're so used to seeing, and the ultimate Wedding that the Bible talks about. The day when the Bride reunites with Christ will be the day when Jesus comes again. This will be the day that will not only define the future of the "newlyweds" but also changes the history of the universe. The Wedding day of Christ and the Church will finally determine who can be called by His name and dwell with Him forever and who won't even be invited to the celebration.
We could talk a lot about how it all works, what it's going to be like, and what we should do as the Church. Here, I simply wanted to remind ourselves, are we looking forward to meeting our Beloved the same way a bride is looking forward to her wedding day? Do we ever think about it?
A relationship between a bride and a groom is a very good illustration of Christ and the Church. Being engaged and promised to each other, the bride and groom don't fully belong to one another yet. Their relationship is intimate, they make plans and grow closer to each other, but their relationship doesn't have the fullness that is revealed after the wedding. The same way as the engagement season is beautiful, it can't last forever.
We often forget that we are in the role of the Bride. We start thinking that right now is the best time of our lives, it's hard for us to imagine what will happen later, so we stick to the moments of happiness that we can get right now. Honestly, sometimes it may be a little ridiculous: imagine a bride that doesn't want her wedding day to come any time soon or refuses to go down the aisle!
I think that God placed this image in the Bible on purpose to remind us: we are not living here forever. Our relationship with Him bears just a little resemblance to the intimacy we're going to have with Him in heaven. Our joy is real but not full. And our goal is to reunite with our Beloved, not to prosper on earth.
Right now there's a lot happening in the world and our hearts are full of different emotions - and it's okay. Whether I'm happy or distressed I want to always remember what waits for me over the horizon. Look at your life, think of yourself as the Bride. When was the last time you had a heart to heart conversation with your fiance? Maybe it's been so long since your last date that you're wondering if He still wants to marry you? Now is the time to restore your relationship because whenever He desires to come we all will stand before Him. My greatest desire is to be ready when that happens!
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev. 22:20)
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