Our lives as Christians are essentially pre-marital counseling preparing us for a wonderful wedding. All of us are the bride who will finally and eternally be united to our groom, Jesus Christ.
Indeed, our lives on earth are the means God uses for a deeper goal.
God’s Glorious Plan
We can tend to conclude God doesn’t love us, or has failed us, when life does not go as we planned. But God has a much deeper and more glorious plan.
“I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
Imagine, we have been chosen to be part of the ultimate wedding! What a glorious day that will be. We will live in perfect union with Christ far beyond anything we could imagine. All of our trials and struggles now are preparing us for the wedding.
God’s Pure Love
God’s pure and true love for us is a jealous love. He does not want to share us with anyone.
Are we as devoted to Him in our love?
Christ came “that those who live would no longer live unto themselves but unto Him who loved them and gave Himself for them.” (2 Corinthians 5:15). We are working through our pre-marital counseling, learning to give up our self-centered devotion to ourselves, and be motivated in practical ways by our love for Him.
The Real Battle for Your Heart
And 2 Corinthians 11 takes another step further:
“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
There is a deep battle going on in every conflict and situation. Yes, it is a battle for what love will rule our hearts. And it is a battle for what desires will determine the course of our lives. There is a deep enemy out there trying to win our hearts and trick our minds with plausible lies.
He wants to keep us from pursuing a deep love for the Lord. But God desires for us to live in an intimate relationship that pleases Him and promotes His agenda.
What can seduce you away from your love for the Lord?
What’s Your Wedding Prep?
All that we are going through right now is preparation for our marriage with Christ. We can resist God’s preparation, or we can embrace it.
The work of Jesus will thrive in our hearts and prepare us for the wedding to come as we are humble, gentle, kind, forgiving, forbearing, gracious, loving, and persevering. Indeed, God is in all the hard and difficult moments jealously claiming our love so that we will be fully devoted to Him and ready for the marriage.
“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” (Revelation 19:7-8).
It is time for us all to be weaving our wedding gown of righteous deeds, we do not want to get to the wedding with a mini skirt.
Are you getting ready for the wedding?
