This weekend, I was blessed to be a part of the most beautiful wedding I have ever attended. James and Breanne Walter have been two of my best friends for some time. I have watched their relationship grow, blossom, and flourish for the past 5 1/2 years, they have set a standard for all who know them. If you sit with them for 5 minutes you will see a few things, how much they love each other, the honor they have for one another, and the high respect for the other. I am amazed by them and their relationship.
I knew that the ceremony was going to be special, but I also knew that I would cry like a baby.
As I walked down the isle I looked at James, and the look on his face was that of a little boy on Christmas morning, who knows that he is about to get the best present of all time. He had this giddy smile on his face, and it seemed to me that he could hardly contain his joy. The music changed and we all saw the Breanne appear at the top of the staircase. I turned and looked at James, he was crying and of course, this turned me into a ball of tears. As the father of the bride walked his daughter down the isle she was glowing. She had eyes only for her beloved. He was her focus. In that moment he was the only thing that mattered.
The ceremony was beautiful, and the rest of the day went off without a hitch, and I have never seen the two of them happier or more in love.
This morning during worship at church I got a picture of another wedding, one that has been planned for eternity and is still to come. The bible says that we as Christians are the bride of Christ. Jesus is the groom and we are His bride. His desire is for us, and He has done everything to win our hearts. He pursues us, romances us, and draws us closer to Himself.
I saw a woman in a wedding dress, and Jesus was at the alter. When she made her entrance, He began to cry out of pure joy, realizing that the reward of the sacrifice He made was finally before Him. Likewise, she was beside herself... she only had eyes for her beloved. He was her safe place, she couldn't wait to be beside Him.
As the groom said His vows, the smile on His face grew. The bride glanced down at her dress and realized that some of it was blood stained, as she saw this they both began to laugh. The beauty of the blood is that it made her dress even more white.
It made her radiant.
The blood made her pure.
As she said her vows, the bride couldn't help the tears that began to stream down her face. She knew for the first time that she was free.
She realized her destiny.
She saw her beauty.
She gained a new identity.
This is what happens when we say yes to Jesus. This is what happens when we give our lives completely. We are purified, given unspeakable joy, we realize our identity, and we become free. Jesus is waiting at the alter, the question is will we leave Him waiting, or will we give ourselves over to something so much better than we could imagine?
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