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Nothing is quite so touching as a June wedding. Of
course I can say that, since my husband and I just celebrated our wedding
anniversary on June 6th. Ah, I remember that day well.
It turned out to be the hottest day in June on record,
the church didn’t have air-conditioning, and Duane was coming down with
a whooping case of strep throat. I wilted before the flowers did; my bra
straps showed all the way through the reception (I know because I saw them
in every on of our wedding pictures); our 4- and 5-year old flower girl and ring bearer
wanted to dance to the beat of a different drum than the Wedding March;
and we had failed to make reservations for a hotel for that night.
Ah yes, I remember it well! It was the most beautiful
day of my life. Why? Because I was in love – and I was getting married.
When I was
growing up, the most horrible thing anyone could say about a woman was
that she was an "old maid."
My grandmother would tell stories about ladies she knew
that married older widowed men who needed someone to raise their children
simply so they could be wives. If my family was invited to a wedding
someone always had to remark about how one of the wedding party was
"always a bridesmaid, but never the bride."
I would play pretend weddings with my friends. But when
it was my turn to be the bride – I was the only one that ever got jilted
at the altar!
And to top it all off, my Home Economics teacher
announced that statistics showed that of the ten of us in her class, only
eight would get married! I remember waking up in the middle of the night
in a cold sweat wondering if someday my tombstone would read "Miss
King," instead of "Beloved Wife."
Oh, all right. It wasn’t quite that
way. But in those days it was certainly better to be married than not.
However, I want you to know that I didn’t marry Duane
simply to be married. We knew from the beginning that God had planned for
us to be together. It has been wonderful. There have been tears
as well as laughter along the way, but I wouldn’t trade them for
anything. Duane has been everything I dreamed of as a little girl…kind,
gentle, loving, strong. And it has only gotten better with the passing of
time. I am so thankful that God’s plans for me included marriage.
Some women
aren’t married. Some remain single by choice. They don’t want to be
accountable to someone else. They want to be alone.
Some have been rejected and hurt, so they build walls,
making sure it will never happen again.
Some "try" marriage, but when they see the
commitment involved, they walk out.
Some are never asked.
Did you realize
that it’s the same in the spiritual realm? Those that belong to Christ,
those that are a part of His body, are His bride. He loves His own as a
husband loves his earthly bride. Those that believe are always the bride!
Wow! Think of that. In the natural when a woman becomes
a bride she takes on a whole new identity. She takes a new name, leaves a
family to begin her own. She becomes the legal possessor of everything her
husband has. What is his is now hers. She is no longer alone. She is
protected, and provided for. She is loved.
When a person accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior
(their bridegroom), they take on a whole new identity. They take on His
name, leaving family to be one with Him. They become the legal possessor
of everything Christ has. They are no longer alone, but protected,
provided for, and loved.
There are some
in this world that will "always be the bridesmaid." Some choose to remain
"single." In other words, they reject the Word. They don’t want to give up
their life to belong to another.
Some have been rejected and hurt by so-called
Christians, the religious. So they put up walls and never experience the joy
that awaits them.
Some have gone to church, "tried" Christ, but
because it involves total commitment, they give up.
Some have never been asked - because they have never
been told.
So today, right
now, I’m telling you. If you are "single" in the spiritual realm, make the
decision to become the bride instead of the bridesmaid. It’s been God’s
plan for you all along. He will be everything you ever dreamed of. He
desires for you to be His own. He’s asking you to be His. Say "YES." Be a
bride.
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