A Bride Prepared

By: Lauren Thomas 

Last weekend I had the great privilege of standing as a bridesmaid(matron) in my sister’s wedding. Weeks of planning had finally led up to the big day. The week of the wedding was filled with finalizing plans. And the hours before the event were nothing but preparing appearances, as Bride and bridesmaids applied makeup; curled, teased, and sprayed hair; decided on jewelry; etc. The attention to detail, the time spent grooming, the focus and intention, all reminded me of a different bride.

 

6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

 

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God

the Almighty reigns.

7 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;

8 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 19:6-8 ESV

 

Christian theology calls the Church (big “C” church, meaning the Church worldwide) the “bride of Christ.” This is an idea found in the Old and New Testaments. Christ is our bridegroom, and we collectively as believers make up His bride.

 

The picture of a bridal party preparing for the wedding, reminds me of the care we Christians should take to be ready for our Groom. Like a bride, we make ourselves ready, we clothe ourselves with the appropriate attire, which, according to Revelation is righteous deeds.

 

Paul touches on this theme as well:

 

so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:27 ESV

 

As a bride takes time to appear in beauty before her groom, we Christians should seek to come to the Marriage of the Lamb in splendor – holy and blameless.

 

While it might be more fun to curl hair and apply makeup, Jesus is looking for a different kind of preparation. He is seeking a Bride who has prepared her heart. He is seeking a Bride who is making herself holy, blameless, righteous. This is how we prepare for the great Marriage of the Lamb.

 

Reflection:

How would you compare bridal preparations to the preparation of the Bride of Christ? How does your pursuit of holiness change as you picture yourself as a Bride preparing for her Groom?