marriage

I'm sure most of you will agree that marriage is a wonderful, beautiful, intimate, challenging, sometimes overwhelming and hard thing! How can they be ALL these things and more? I believe because of the sacredness of marriage and all God intends it to be - was meant to ultimately be a for-shadow of something even more supernatural, divine and holy.....Himself!

Think about it for a moment. Now we'll have to put ourselves in a perfect world, ultimately His world, to fully understand what marriage is suppose to represent....meaning let's forget for a moment the flaws of our physical marriages on earth and think about what God says about marriage. We're asked to be married to one person, to be faithful and loyal (Matthew 5:27). Even that our bedroom would be sacred and pure (Hebrews 13:4). We're asked to be joined to this person as One embodiment, where the two flesh become one (Matthew 19:4-6). We're asked to forsake all other family so that we can be joined to this person (Mark 10:6). We're asked to procreate as the fruit of this oneness (Genesis 1:28). We're told two is better than one (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10) and that the fruit of our womb is our inheritance (Psalm 127:3). Yes, we are even told that love is the greatest thing we will ever know, give and become (1 Corinthians 13:13).

If what we are asked to do in the natural is ONLY a foreshadow of what God desires in the spiritual, what would a marriage with the Lord really look like?

Many times throughout scripture we are referenced as His Bride, and even later as His wife. "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." (Revelation 19:7) I don't believe this is a futuristic thing, but meant to be a "present" Truth.

And what does it mean to make yourself ready? Think about everything you did to ready yourself before your own wife or husband to be. I think its safe to say that most of us didn't marry our spouses on a blind date, but we entered into a relationship with one another that lead to that partnership. We grew toward love and ultimately a point of decision to make this the person we would spend the rest of our life with. And even in covenant, we remain steadfast in our efforts to getting to know one another in that intimate oneness. BUT THIS IS ALSO WHAT GOD DESIRES OF US!

It is my conviction that marriage with the Lord doesn't necessarily happen the day of salvation, meaning the day we gave our hearts to the Lord. I would dare to say I have met several "believers" who have yet to come into the understanding of what it really means to be married to Jesus. He desires that we would also forsake all other lovers, to be joined together as one embodiment (as Jesus prayed in John 17), to lay down your life for Him (Matthew 16:25) and, yes, to even reproduce with Him (Galatians 4:19)! You think I'm crazy, but it is inevitable, when the two become one, there is procreation. And Jesus wants to reproduce Himself, but I stand fully convinced this only comes through pure, unadulterated, ardent love for God....because in love we can not help but birth His life through us.

He sees us as HIS inheritance and He is just waiting for us to choose Him.