Wedding Music!

Can you think of anything more lovely than a bride?  I don't think so!  Tomorrow is my daughter's 25th wedding anniversary, and I still like to remember how sweet and beautiful she looked as she came down the aisle on the arm of her Dad!  -- Congratulations, Tommie and Paula!!

How exciting it is when the girls begin counting the days until they will walk down the aisle to meet their bridegroom!!  What a grand occasion!!  Everyone from the tiny toddler to the great Grandpa is filled with anticipation and excitement, and can hardly wait to see the beautiful bride adorned for her husband!!

When you see her coming down the aisle in her spotless purity, suddenly it was worth all the many hours of preparation, the tears, the frustrations, the cost -- all the trials are forgotten in the joys of this glorious day.  As I reflect on this scene -- I wonder -- what would we think if we saw a bride coming down the aisle with dirt on her wedding gown, ugly stains here and there, caring nothing about her appearance?  We would be shocked and horrified beyond words; ashamed that she would present herself to her bridegroom in such wretched attire.  . . . . But, have we ever thought about what we look like who profess the name of Jesus?  We claim to be the Bride of Christ---what kind of bride are we?  Do we have some dirty gossip on our tongue, some stains of unforgiven sins that we have committed?  Are we careless and immodest in our dress?  What about our actions in mixed company, or the carnal traits of jealousy and envy?

We cannot all be beautiful of face and figure, but we can all be beautiful and glorious within.  Jesus died for us so that He might present us, His bride, to the Heavenly Father not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that we should be holy and without blemish.  In the 19th chapter of Revelation, it says the marriage of the Lamb is come and His wife hath made herself ready.  If we want to be part of the Bride of Christ, we will have to make ourselves ready.  It won't happen accidentally, just as my daughter's lovely wedding took much preparation, and to be part of the Bride of Christ, the inside must be pure and clean, as well as the outside.

Then, when the blessed Comforter comes to abide within, He guides us into all truth and will one day soon present us faultless to the Heavenly Bridegroom where we will have a wedding reception beyond anything this world has ever seen at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!  This heavenly marriage banquet will last seven years, and an invitation is extended to "whosoever will" by the Father of the Bridegroom.  All things are ready, and the call will soon come, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him!"

It's the most important wedding we could ever attend!  Let's determine not to miss it, whatever the cost!!!   . . . Is that Wedding Music that I hear?