Wedding Dress. Derek Webb.

One of my dear friends got engaged last night. I'm so so excited for her, but that, coupled with Spring Break in N.C. has my thinking a lot.

I am the bride of Christ. Revelation 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."

Usually when people are engaged, that becomes all they think and talk about - so much so that everything else fades away, sometimes even the relationship with the person. Planning the perfect wedding consumes them rather than maintaining a healthy relationship. That saddens me.

Last night, I was praying and thinking. Am I more concerned with being the "Good Christian" and telling everyone about how "great" I am that I have neglected my actual relationship with Christ? Have I been so focused on being a good future wife for some boy that I have not become a good bride of Christ?

Right now, I am the bride of Christ. I will always, first and foremost be the bride of Christ. How can I be a loving, proper bride right now? Our wedding day was the day of ultimate acceptance, when I accepted His blood as a cleansing agent for my sin and He accepted me as is. What a beautiful day...

I turned to Proverbs 31 and read about being a Wife of Noble Character. I wrote "bride" on my left hand, right by my thumb. I spent all day looking at it, cheering silently inside about how He chose me, loving me unconditionally. I spent all day thinking about what I would tell Him about today, whether or not I properly lived out Proverbs 31, whether or not I made Him proud.

I am His bride. Hopefully one day I will get married to the one He has chosen for me. Hopefully. But until then, and after then, I am the Bride of Christ. Being His bride is preparing me for being my F.H.'s bride.