To Be His Bride

 Over the past while, I have learned so much about what it truly means to be the "Bride of Christ" and

what it means to fall completely and irrevocably in Love with the Lord - to fall so in love with Him that He and the Father have become the center of everything in my life. I tell the Lord frequently, "I love You so much, and I want to be completely lost in You. I want my whole heart to belong to You. Please hold me close and don't ever let me go."

That is how I feel every minute of the day!

In Hebrew marriages, when the groom's offer is accepted by the woman, she then becomes his bride. Once that happens, she is no longer of her old house. She prepares herself, says goodbye to her old life, and gets ready to move on to a better home.

She is called the Shalom Bride. She has been brought up to one day leave the house she was raised in for a new permanent home, forever attaching herself to the groom.

When we say goodbye to Babylon and the things of the world, we are accepting the bride price the Lord has offered - and paid - and we are preparing ourselves for the coming of the Bridegroom. We are preparing ourselves for our marriage to Him, and the world is no longer our home. When He finally arrives, the marriage will take place and we will be taken to a far better home, one that is more glorious than we can imagine.

But are we truly ready to say goodbye to the things of this world?

Are we willing to say goodbye to our worldly aspirations, our old self, our egos? Are we willing to let go of pride, vain and foolish traditions, worldly possessions, and desires of the flesh? Can we leave worldly burdens behind and let go of our past life. We MUST let go of all of these things in order to fully accept the price that the Savior has paid for us.

To fully accept Him, we must turn away from everything that is not of Him. We must turn away and never look back. We must long for the Lord more than we've longed for anything. Only the things of Him should be precious to us. Only the things that lead us to Him should we treasure.

In Hebrew, not only does shalom mean goodbye, it means hello, too! And every time we say goodbye to things of this world, we are saying hello to the things of heaven. Each and every worldly thing we let go makes room for bridal gifts that the Lord is just waiting to give us when He comes for US, His bride.

And oh, how I long for, and look forward to, my wedding day!

Happy Sabbath!