As a Bridegroom Rejoices Over His Bride

Happy Veteran's Day! I am so grateful to all our military who have sacrificed and heroically given their lives for the freedom of this country. And my heart and prayers go out even now to those who are serving on the front lines even as a sit here and type this... Please pray for our troops, and their families they've left behind who love and miss them everyday!

Now, to explain to title of this post. "As a Bridegroom Rejoices Over His Bride." Thinking about my post yesterday of my friend Tia's wedding last month and how much it made me think about us as Christian being the Bride of Christ... Today I got the daily reading e-mail from Ransomed Heart Ministries. If we are His Bride, then that would make Him a Bridegroom. THE Bridegroom! Just think about all the weddings you've ever been to. Think about the Bridegroom's face when he first sees his bride walking down the aisle. I've seen some pretty serious bridegrooms, some grinning some ear to ear, some crying tears of joy. It's one of my favorite things to observe at weddings. God is telling us that He will rejoice over us just as a groom rejoices over his beautiful bride! Wow!! Listen to this...

"As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." (Isaiah 62:5) 

The following is the e-mail I got today with an excerpt from the book The Sacred Romance (which I've read and would highly recommend!), by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis. Enjoy! :)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

As A Bridegroom Rejoices Over His Bride

The Scriptures employ a wide scale of metaphors to capture the many facets of our relationship with God. If you consider them in a sort of ascending order, there is a noticeable and breathtaking progression. Down near the bottom of the totem pole we are the clay and he the Potter. Moving up a notch, we are the sheep and he the Shepherd, which is a little better position on the food chain but hardly flattering; sheep don't have a reputation as the most graceful and intelligent creatures in the world. Moving upward, we are the servants of the Master, which at least lets us into the house, even if we have to wipe our feet, watch our manners, and not talk too much. Most Christians never get past this point, but the ladder of metaphors is about to make a swift ascent. God also calls us his children and himself our heavenly Father, which brings us into the possibility of real intimacy-love is not one of the things a vase and its craftsman share together, nor does a sheep truly know the heart of the shepherd, though it may enjoy the fruits of his kindness. Still, there is something missing even in the best parent-child relationship. Friendship levels the playing field in a way family never can, at least not until the kids have grown and left the house. Friendship opens a level of communion that a five-year-old doesn't know with his mother and father. And "friends" are what he calls us.

But there is still a higher and deeper level of intimacy and partnership awaiting us at the top of this metaphorical ascent. We are lovers. The courtship that began with a honeymoon in the Garden culminates in the wedding feast of the Lamb. "I will take delight in you," he says to us, "as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will I rejoice over you."

(The Sacred Romance , 96, 97)