Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. Revelation 19:7
Getting ready for a wedding can be very time consuming and expensive, as we learned when our daughter was preparing to get married. All of the preparations for the ceremony, for the reception, for the bride and bridesmaid’s dresses, took considerable time and coordination with many different people. Preparations for the reception were beginning to look like a huge disaster-in-waiting until we got the right people to help. But the day of the wedding arrived with all the pieces in place, and my wife and I met with our daughter for a final time before the ceremony, posing for pictures with her before we were to depart for the ceremony. She was ready, lovely in her beautiful dress, and confident of her future with the man she loved. She was like the Christians, we who are identified as the bride of Christ and who are waiting for that great marriage event in Heaven.
We are ready for that great event, and have been since we were saved. The grace of God reached us and brought us to our Lord, and preserves us daily as we make our way through this world until we reach His presence. We are ready, because our salvation does not depend on ourselves; it depends on the One in Whom we have trusted. We contemplate Calvary, and remember that everything that was required for God to be able to accept us was accomplished by our Saviour. In Him, and in Him alone, we are ready for the marriage.
We are also arrayed in great beauty, just like our daughter as a bride. We wonder sometimes how God could look on us with appreciation when we stumble and stray, and fail to live up to His expectations of us. We know our shortcomings and are often ashamed of ourselves. But our Lord, Who knows all these things even better than we do, does not look upon us that way. No, He sees us in the beauty of the righteousness of His Son. Our sins are washed in the precious blood of the Lamb, and we are white and pure in His sight. And we will be forever beautiful for Him.
Just as our daughter was confident of her future, so are we, as we take our place as the bride of Christ. We are learning to be confident now, as we make our way through our Christian life, trusting Him for our needs, our protection, and our future. We could do a better job at that, but we are learning. But when we look beyond this life, we are thankful for the glorious hope of Glory. We appreciate our promise of eternal rest and bliss. The One we trusted to save us from hell is the same One Who we are trusting to take us to Heaven. And the more we trust, the greater our joy in being His bride.
The marriage of the Lamb is coming soon. Praise the Lord we are ready! -Jim MacIntosh