Falling in Love With the Bridegroom

Alas!

Researching wedding traditions, trying to settle on wedding photography, ordering numerous wedding articles, and designing invitations and napkins, can make my head acquire a dull ache and my eyes a slight droop. It's a lot of thinking. I mean really!....

Do I want this verse on the napkins or this great quote?

Will these flowers be in season?

Do I want traditional wedding photography or more contemporary?

What about music??

Which picture should we put into the invitations?

And speaking of invitations, which ones are we going to go with??

It's enough to make you scream, "Somebody please get me a tylenol, a pillow, a warm cup of apple cider, and a relaxing afternoon away from this!"

I'm learning something though, with this whole wedding planning, most-stressful-time-of-a-girl's-life season: It's easy to get distracted and drift away from your First Love. A beautiful friend of my mine gave me a book not long after I became engaged. It's a simple wedding planner, from a Christian point of view...reminding the bride to take time to draw closer to Christ. Sadly, that's a hard thing to do! But I'm learning more and more - and in so many different ways! - that "this" and "that" really and truly does not fulfill. "This" and "that" does not give lasting happiness or contentment. It really is only Jesus. Of course, that's something I've always known....but it's so easy to "unintentionally" forget.

Over and over in His Word, Christ tells us to seek His face, to pursue Him, to follow after Him. As a bride, I'm learning that this is more beautiful than it ever was before. It's like He's saying, "My love, come away with Me," "My precious bride, don't ever let Me go!" or "My darling, keep falling more in love with Me!"

Now, if you are flesh and blood and very much a lady, when a gentleman speaks soft, tender words like that, you melt! When he takes you by the hand and makes promise after promise to love you, take care of you, cherish you, and never leave you, you fall more and more in love with him. If that is so, then how much more should we fall in love with Christ each day? As we open up His Word and hear all of His promises, see all of His love, and feel all of His passion for us, we should feel a burning desire to pour out our lives for Him forever. I know that when my earthly bridegroom demonstrates His love for me, I desire to demonstrate my love all the more towards him. It should be the same (yet SO much more so) with my Heavenly Bridegroom. My earthly man is quite a catch, but he is human. He has his share of faults, flaws, and shortcomings. He isn't perfect. My Heavenly Bridegroom, however, IS perfect. And when I open my Bible and am reminded of His great love, His grace, His tender voice calling out to me, I should do no less than fall at His feet in complete adoration!

With all the decisions to be made concerning my wedding day, I have to remind myself every day to show my love to my man; to love, cherish, encourage, honor, and serve to the best of my ability. And in like manner, every day, I MUST draw closer to the heart of Christ; to love, obey, serve, honor, and devote my life to Him afresh and anew. It's hard work! It's not easy greeting each day with prayer and Bible reading or going through the day in frequent communication with Him. It takes effort! But we must. While we fall more in love with our groom as the wedding day approaches, let us fall more in love with our Heavenly Bridegroom each day....or it is all wasted.