And the bride wore white….

I am not married, engaged or even dating.

However the topic of marriage has been on my mind a lot recently.

Probably because I’ve been in two weddings in the past six weeks, and I still have a fair amount of weddings to attend this year. Many little girls dream of their wedding day, and have the details planned out long before “Mr. Right” enters into the picture.

I’m not one of those girls.

Sure, I’ve given though to what I want my wedding to look like – there will be loads of flowers, and a coffee bar! Past that, I really don’t care!

The Lord hasn’t promised any earthly blessing except for Himself, but even if He chooses to give me good things on earth, I want to be a women who’s satisfied by Christ alone. While the Lord may choose to bless us with wonderful gifts such as a relationship, a nice house, a job we enjoy, etc., our ultimate hope and satisfaction must not be found in those things. Our hands should be holding loosely onto those things, so that if they were taken away, we would not be devastated.

Brides wear white on their wedding day to symbolize purity.

In the New Testament, Christ, the Bridegroom has sacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be His bride. (Ephesians 5:25-27) Christ has washed our sins whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7). I’ve always been fascinated with this idea of the church being the bride of Christ.

Marriage is such a raw picture of God’s love and faithfulness to us.

Throughout the Bible, God uses marriages to point back to Himself. Read Hosea, you’ll find a man commanded to be faithful to his adulterous wife and to love her even though she’s undeserving. As I’ve been reflecting upon earthly marriage, my heart has longed to be a bride who can wear white for her true and better Bridegroom. The latter part of Ephesians 5:27 discusses the Christ presenting the church as holy and without blemish.

My heart desperately longs to be pure for my Bridegroom. I have chosen to keep my body sexually pure for my wedding night. However, I’m unable to present myself pure before my heavenly Bridegroom. My good deeds are as filthy rags before Him (Isaiah 64:6), but praise the Lord that He sent His one and only Son to atone for my sins.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:12

Beloved, whether you’re single, married, widowed or somewhere in between…..

I urge you to view yourself as the beloved bride of Christ, who is clothed in His righteousness. You are His bride. You are pure in His sight because of the atoning blood of Christ.