Giddily and beloved

I just returned from a powerful Bible study with our group that Cailyn and I had the privilege of leading. This message was laid on my heart a few weeks ago and I was suppose to share it last week, but I believe that God's timing was perfect like always. When we came into our meeting, there was a dark heaviness over the entire group because of a variety of things that are going on with our ministry here in Peru, but when we left there was such joy and peace that filled all of our hearts. As Cailyn and I were walking back home, I was smiling and over joyed and the only word that I could use to describe how I was feeling was giddily.

Until recently I had never fully grasped the depth of what it means to be the "bride" of Christ. I had a revelation last fall where I saw Jesus as my betrothed and I was following him as a bride would her groom. There was even a cheesy FFH song, Follow Love, that went along with this revelation and really encouraged me to continue on this journey. However, I had never let it completely transform me until my dear friend Cailyn showed me the parallels between the Jewish marriage customs and Jesus.

Usually when we think of the Last Supper we think of Jesus breaking the bread and sharing the wine with his disciples to represent his body and blood that he would shed for us. This is not exactly how the disciples saw it that night because they were Jewish and we are not. They heard Jesus proposing to them. Crazy I know! You see according to the Jewish marriage customs, when a Jewish man found a woman that he wanted to marry, he would go to his father who would then go to her father and together they would all figure out how many goats and sheep she is worth. The Jewish man would then go to the woman's home in front of all their family and friends and prepare a table with a glass of wine and the marriage covenant presented to the woman. It was against the law for a Jewish woman to be forced into marriage, she had a choice. So he would offer her the glass of wine and if she put her lips to the glass and drank of the wine then it's as if she is saying I accept your life as my own and I will give you mine in return.

From that point on she was known as "the one who was bought with a price" and her betrothed would go away to prepare their home which could take up to a year. During that time there was no communication between them except through the best man. He was the messenger between the couple until the groom finished their house and came unexpectedly in the night to retrieve his bride.

See the similarities in what Jesus did? He offered a glass of wine to his disciples and to the church as a whole to accept his proposal and to become his immaculate bride. When we take of the cup he is offering, we are entering into his new covenant and are his betrothed. His dowry was not goats and sheep though, it was much more costly. It was his life. That's how much each one of us are worth! Then as the Jewish man goes to prepare a house for his bride, Jesus says in John 14:1-3 that he is going to his father's house to prepare a place for us so that we may be where he is. He doesn't leave us alone. He promises to send his best man to send us messages from him, the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-18). And as the Jewish groom appears unexpectedly in the middle of the night to obtain his bride, Jesus will one day return for us and take us up to the house he has prepared for us.

After hearing this, I am just beyond words and filled with love for my savior and betrothed. Though I have been a wayward wife and have been unfaithful at times, he is still committed to me. He is dedicated to each one of us and desires that we be equally as faithful. A song that has really touched my heart and goes along so beautifully with this message is the song "Beloved" by Tenth Avenue North. The artist saw this as what his marriage covenant between him and Jesus would look like. I encourage you to read the words and allow God to form his own marriage covenant with you!

Beloved

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need
Give me your life
Lust and the lies
The past you're afraid I might see
You've been running away from me

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
It binds you to me
It's a mystery

Love of my life
Look deep in my eyes
There you will find what you need
I'm the giver of life
I'll clothe you in white
My immaculate bride you will be
Oh come running home to me

You're my beloved
Lover I'm yours
and Death shall not part us
It's you I died for
For better or worse
Forever we'll be
Our Love it unites us
and it binds you to me yea now now

Well you've been a mistress, my wife
Chasing lovers it won't satisfy
Won't you let me make you my bride
You will drink of my lips
And**taste new life

You're my beloved
Forever we'll be
Our love it unites us
And it binds you to me
It's a mystery