Preparing to be the Bride of Christ
- baileylane17
- Apr 26
- 4 min read
I got married on April 5th to the love of my life, whoop whoop! As I've been enjoying the newlywed life, I've been reflecting on a few different things that the Lord has been teaching me. One of which I want to expound on today: the correlation between getting ready to be a bride and getting ready for the return of our beloved bridegroom.
Let's be honest, engagement can be quite a journey haha. You have to make all of these major decisions together, have hard conversations, remain pure, and plan one of the biggest events of your life. It is a lot to say the least. Planning a wedding is a lot of work, but the reward is immeasurable!
I've been thinking about all that went into making April 5th my most favorite day. The little details, food selection, making the playlist, bridesmaid dress colors, flowers, the cake, and more, so much more. As I reflected on this, I thought about how brides spend so much time preparing themselves and everything else for their wedding day. Brides spend extensive time phsically enhancing themselves, whether it be nails, waxing (LOL), tanning, working out, eating clean, self care days, hair appointments, and that is just the physical stuff. On top of that you add the actual planning of the event, meeting with vendors, appointments, coordinating, and more.
Brides spend countless days and hours preparing for this one singular day.
What about us?
You might be thinking, "what do you mean what about us"?
What I mean is that we, the church, are the bride of Christ. Are we dedicating even a fraction of our time that a bride spends to prepare for her wedding to prepare for the marriage of the lamb?
When Christ returns to marry His beloved bride, the church, will we be ready? I've been sitting with the following questions for a few weeks.
What are we doing to prepare for Christ's return?
What are we doing to prepare for the marriage of the Lamb?
What are we doing to prepare to be His bride for eternity?
Yes, preparing to be a bride and planning the wedding is a wonderful, beautiful, and exciting thing, but I also believe it is incredibly important to reflect on what we are doing to prepare for eternity.
We must begin getting ready for the marriage of the Lamb.
He is coming back for His bride.
Is there oil in your lamp? Keep the fire of your love for Christ burning!
Revelation19:7-8 "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”
As God continues to redeem, refine, and sanctify us, we are made more ready for His return. How beautiful is it that God chooses to make us a holy, pure, and blameless bride despite our rebellion, sin, and wrongdoings?
Psalm 18:19, "He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me."
The Lord delights in us! He chooses to marry us. I encourage you to reflect on that today, the fact that God chose you to be His bride because He deeply loves you. As you reflect on the profoundness of this, it should stir in you the desire to make yourself ready for His return. We make ourselves ready by delighting in Him. When we delight in Him, we naturally desire holiness. We desire to be a pure and blameless bride because we desire Christ more than anything else. Is this the posture of your heart? Is preparing to be the bride of Christ your top priority? If it is not, my friend, I urge you to revaluate. The things of this world are transient and passing away (2 Cor. 4). However, the marriage of the Lamb is a matter of eternity. We must begin preparing ourselves for Christ's return. We must be in wholehearted pursuit of holiness. We must delight in our bridegroom.
Not only this, but we prepare by dedicating and devoting our lives to Christ daily. We must live on purpose. Love God, Love People as YWAM says! We must spend time with God, in His Word, in prayer, in fellowship and community, in worship, we must be WITH God! Ultimately we best prepare for His return by becoming more like Him, and this is accomplished by spending more time with Him. The more time we spend with Him, the more we desire Him, the more we fall deeper in love with Him, the more His desires become our own, and the more we begin to reflect His beautiful and pure bride that He has called us to be!
Also, how cool is it that God gave us the gift of marriage to reflect His perfect union with the Church. Through the cracks of our brokenness does His glory shine through our relationships. The union of marriage is a picture of our future and forever union with Christ. Marriage is a gift and a promise of our eternal marriage with our forever and beloved bridegroom!!!!!
Though the preparation process can seem stretching, I encourage you to remember that refinement and pruning is a gift because it is the process of sanctification so that we can look more like Christ. Praise God that marriage is a gift in which we can help the other person become more like Christ and the person that God called us to be. Furthermore, the marriage of the Lamb is a mirror of God's grace, a grand reflection of the fact that He chooses to delight in even the least of these. He chose to take an unholy bride and commit to the process of sanctifying her to make her holy because of His steadfast and unyielding love. May the utterance of our lips forever praise His name as we thank Him for the promise of this future union. Maranatha, COME LORD!
He truly is our beloved!
What an honor and true joy it is to be the bride of Christ, and eagerly await the return of our beloved bridegroom for the marriage of the Lamb. We must be getting ready for His return!
Songs I love about this:
More Than Ashes - Tim Reimherr
Getting Ready - Maverick City Music
More Resources:
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